His Sky Angel
by DarkVampire111
Summary: The Autobots gain some new problems when they are forced to capture Starscream, but gain even more trouble with a new visitor, one femme thought long dead. Her reason for coming and intentions are thought more than questionable when they find she and the seeker know each other. How are the scales going to tip with the femme's dangerous skill and the seeker's plotting in the mix?
1. Why They Call Her Angel

_Transformers Prime_

_Takes place after "New Recruit" _

**Why They Call Her Angel**

A dull mechanical hum was the only sound in the small area, the shine from multiple computer screens the only source of light in the place. The slim little figure in the over sized chair, clearly not fitted for her, being the only sign of life. She sat poised at the desk full of electronics busily tapping at the keys, fingers a blur of motion. As her blue orbs scanned the computer screen she took in every word and image as she scrolled past them swiftly, mind a computer all her own. Pausing, one slender digit absently traced circles over the arm of the chair as she processed the information as she switched networks as easily as she would blink.

There was a limit to how long she could remain on this frequency before being discovered. It was a hassle, but she was forced to constantly change her channels and frequencies to avoid the watchful eyes she knew would be behind the other screen. Thus far, she had not been detected but she knew full well that the first mistake she made, the first indication of a hacker, and Soundwave would have her blocked more ways than there were stars... not to mention pinpointing her location. This brilliant hacker was so good she avoided even those eyes, but she knew it would not last forever. Her skills were higher than most any hacker in her time, but even she had her limitations. While she was in, she had to scan _absolutely_ as much as she could get.

She already had a lot, practically everything the silent mech had record of since coming to earth, but she needed it all. If her plans were to work, she had to get every ounce of information in that highly sophisticated system. She now knew more than anyone else about the Decepticon's movements, but she had yet to find out a few key things she had to know. There was much that they all had to learn about the Iacon data. Other things interested her as well, such as the movement of the Deceticon space bridge. As of yet, nothing had been done with it, but it was something to keep an eye on. She always liked to keep an eye out in the event she needed the information later, it was how she always worked.

Hacking the Autobot system was far easier than running under Soundwave's radar - Even for her it was a challenge. Swiftly, she cut her location to bounce to another, pinging off several before settling on one. Her slender digits reached out for her cup and pulled it to her lips for a sip of the blue liquid. Learning all this had been both informative and interesting. Knowing what the Autobots and Decepticons had been doing on earth was a revelation, to say the very least. She somewhat enjoyed searching the Decepticon's files most not only for the presented challenge, but because of the complexity of the Decepticon's themselves. Dynamic was the only word she could come up with for their little group.

Obviously, Megatron was of real interest. The ex-gladiator turned wicked ruler was a remarkable subject to analyze. Though, honestly, she did not know how his actions could have shocked Iacon. Anyone should have been able to predict the events through simple deduction. His essential tantrum at not being picked as Prime was predictable. How had they expected different from someone raised up in a world of 'kill or be killed', show no mercy, and win at all costs? Factor in his lifestyle and add on the sudden praise and fame he received as a gladiator favorite, salted with an ego the size of earth being stuffed. . . he was bound to eventually believe his own hype and forget that the world did not really revolve around him and only him. Could such conditioning produce anything different? Could you expect someone raised as an assassin to take rejection well? Hardly.

Moreover, how had they not seen his assent to power coming in a world where all but the select few were suppressed? The world was ripe for the taking and Megatron was a silver tongue warrior perfect for the job. They were ready and willing to listen and follow him. She shifted slightly in the seat, the three long metal strip extensions hanging from either side of her shoulders grazed over the floor with the motion - the round peacock like eyelets that lined them flashed for a split second in response. Anyone should have seen things coming. She liked to analyze things, it was just how she was. As the signal continued to ping off a few towers her mind continued to ponder the issues, the fall of Cybertron, as she came to understand.

Megatron was interesting if not mildly understandable or predictable. However, his second in command was a prize for any analytical mind, and one she could not help sympathizing with for many reasons. Granted, she could not say she cast in with him or even agreed with any of his choices, but he was hard not to pity. Starscream's displayed behavior seemed really very classic of long term abuse victims and she would wager, though she do not know his official history, that he was prone to be abused long before Megatron entered the picture. It was clear not only in the way he was recorded flinching at sudden movement or cowered before Megatron, but many other ways.

Children of abuse never grew up knowing kindness or love and so they tended to shift into a more survivalistic mind set. They do or say whatever they have to to survive and tend to become very skilled at it. However, they never developed trust in anyone, so they can hardly trust a living soul even though they long to have one person they could believe in. They long for a connection they could trust but do not believe they will even find one... and it was visible in just how many times Starscream had _attempted_ to align himself with others, even going so far as to try to join the o_h so hate_d spider femme. He always was betrayed, a bit like an inescapable circle of abuse because he was always drawn to abusive types because they were familiar figures. His one attempt at joining the Autobots was the closest he came to picking a kinder faction to trust in.

Another common thing was that they had a deep set need to be in control and have the power they had never been allowed. They have been abused by those with power so it is the one thing they see as safety - 'If you have power, no one can pick on you, thus, if I had the power no one could hurt me anymore.' Starscream's crazed desire for power at all costs, and constant bragging in an attempt to prove how strong he was seemed to cry out of his longing to escape the cage of abuse he felt so vividly.

_"Hello there..." _Her smoothly feminine voice came out in a whisper that rippled the previous silence only slightly.

Her glowing blue optics focused more on the screen as she saw that silent purple and black mech, Soundwave, was at work on something again. Her slender silver servos itched as she watched his motion appearing on her screen. Slowly, her smooth denta slid over her lower derma as she watched with wide optics. He was decoding the Iacon data again, she noted. The Autobots might also know what he was up to by now thanks to the virus they secretly placed in his system. She was not the only one learning from him, but she was closer, monitoring from the ship itself. They might be a little distracted with the arrival yesterday of the Autobot, Smokescreen. Then again, they might be rather busy with Bulkhead's issues as well. For the moment, she might be the only one monitoring Soundwave.

Her intake fans kicked to a dull cycle from the sudden stress to her system. Humans blushed or got sweaty palms when nervous, as she recalled from her research, but her fans were what gave away her nerves. One servo moved to absently rub the light blue wing shaped accent that served to protect her cheek plate. A nervousness always kicked in whenever he was working at the same time she was. It made her margin for being detected so much higher. Her spark always pulsed a little at the excitement and pending dread. Some part of her inner and long gone sparkling always wanted to run and hide when she saw him at the other end of the keys. Her helm tilted the the side as she watched the screen, the long blue spike that ran up from between her optic ridges flashed in reflection of the light. Still, his careful records were the reason she had any idea what had gone on since she had been... away, so she felt an odd gratitude to him in that regard.

The ever watchful Third was a mystery still. Try as she might, getting information on him was like an impossible task. Even the ship computer held almost no information on him. However, his unquestioning loyalty was intriguing. Either he was incapable of turning from his leader by some potential programming error, or he had a good reason for staying loyal - Perhaps even hidden motives all his own. The latter was a worry considering how much power Soundwave possessed. Megatron would have fallen long ago without his third in command running and managing everything behind the scenes. It was hard to tell where Soundwave left off in power and Megatron began. The third was like an extension of the leader; his eyes, ears, and hands.  
Still, the motive for it was a puzzle. It could have all been tied to loyalty or perhaps some debt Soundwave owed the gladiator, but the current information was not enough to determine that. In any case, she would not ponder the issue further for now. The Cybertronian flooding the screen was enough to keep her attention. Considering she had worked in Iacon, these were a decent bit easier for her to decode than for him. Her upper body leaned forward as she began to focus. It was a habit, the more she focused, she tended to lean closer until she was nearly on top of it.

"Another Relic from Iacon!" She mused, a mild smirk edged at the corners of her mouth, knowing she was ahead of Soundwave. "I believe it is now time to begin."

With a flick of her servo, she severed the connection and switch her tiny ship into flight mode, heading for a place she knew from her time spent in the Autobot computer. It was time, while she had something to offer as collateral, to greet them. She could hope they allowed her in with this information she was about to hand them. She was fast at decoding, always had been, so she knew she was ahead of both Soundwave and even the Prime, or she might be at least. This was the perfect timing to begin the next stage. She welcomed this long awaited chance to gain entry to the Autobot base. It had been too long a wait.

* * *

Once again, here he was, vulnerable... without a T-cog and now without the Apex Armor. The Seeker let out a quiet growl to himself as he thought over the events. The worst thing, or close to worst, was that a rookie was the one to best him out of it. It would have been slightly more dignifying had it at least been the Prime. Instead, his saving grace was stripped by a mech with no battle experience. It was enough to make Starscream... well, scream. It was humiliating to say the very least. He was sick of everything he did backfiring.

After having the relic stolen from them and nearly having lost the red energon to him, though it was all gone now, the Autobots decided it would be safer to just imprison him than allow him to run free. He was an enemy they thought better out of the way. Optimus, in all him sickly kindness, also decided the seeker himself would be safer here. His Prime spark could not seem to leave the runaway to die. The leader could tell how desperately he was in need of energon, seeing clearly that he had been living off the scraps he found in the stripped mines. Without the Apex, the Prime knew he would be dead in the water once Dreadwing caught up to him, which he would have. The over sized hunk of metal, grit, and pride would surely be after his head for stealing the armor to start with. Rediculously loyal as he was, he would bring him back to the ship for execution for sure. Why did he have to be such a do-gooder?

His long set of claws curled into a fist, slender face twisted in anger, and red optics blazing. His wings flexed and tightened a bit as he worked to control his rage. If he had just been a little faster, or if only he had been able to use that red energon right then, but no. Nothing could ever simply go his way. Though, being watched by the very same rookie that beat him was not at all helpful to maintaining any sort of calm exterior. That smug expression on Smokescreen's masculine, unscarred, young face was a little more than any ex-commander could endure. Being babysat by the mech he lost to was a blow to his ego that could almost outweigh being captured in the first place. He should be the one flaunting a victory in the Autobot's faces, not this little sparkling of a solder. He was the commander, or ex-commander, of the entire Decepticon army, for Primus sake! The already small room of the base was made decidedly smaller by the annoying Autobot. The indignities never ceased. He was tired of it, so very tired of it.

"If you really must stand there, it is really necessary to stare at me that way?" The Seeker crooned in his usual gravely, superior, yet oddly smooth voice.

"Well," Smokescreen, a grounder mech nearly as cocky as the seeker, smirked, "I _am_ supposed to be watching you, even if you are so pitiful that you could not threaten a newly sparked Insecticon. I already beat you once, so I guess they thought I should be around to remind you of how easily I beat you down the first time."

Starscream bristled inwardly, but maintained his condescending expression, "Cliffjumper was cocky, just like you. You remind me of him in your mannerisms."

Smokescreen's white faceplate took on a puzzled look as he posed the question begging to be asked, "Who is Cliffjumper?"

"Was. You mean who _was_ Cliffjumper." The seeker tilted his head slightly, a coy smile playing at his mouth, "And Cliffjumper was an Autobot full of attitude... and he talked a lot, like you. One of the Prime's soldiers here." His smile turned sinister, tone arcing lower for emphasis, "That is, right before I used these claws to slice his stupid little Autobot spark."

Even though Starscream was in stasis cuffs, the younger bot could not help eyeing to claws warily, "I... don't believe you."

A chuckle rose in the Decepticon's vocalizer, red optics glaring a challenge at the other, "Just ask Arcee if I'm telling the truth or not... he was her partner. They should really have warned you about something like that before making you my guard... how careless of them."

Smokescreen glared at him, clearly unsure whether to believe him or not. Most likely, his processor was working over all sorts of ideas and scenes regarding those words. However, the seeker's main goal was accomplished, and he knew it. The confidence in the younger mech had clearly taken a hard blow judging by the way he was now eyeing the stasis cuffs and by the sudden lack of bravado. At last, there was some silence. The taste of victory he had been longing for all day. It was small, but at least it made him feel a little more in control again. He had to take a win where he could get it in this life.

In some ways, though, he was glad of being here. Were it Megatron he would be scrap. No, he would be scrap after long horrific amounts of torture. Megatron was not the kindest to traitors, to say the least. If he had to be caught, he was glad it was them. At least they were less likely to torture him in many ways other than humiliation. He shuddered to think how his time would be currently if he was back on the Nemesis. He had a hunch his wings would have been ripped off about this time considering Megatron knew of the terror that would be to him. A seeker without wings was worse than dead even if he could not fly. Still, he could not help verbally lashing out at his captor for the slight amount of control it gave him.

* * *

The femme made her way to where she knew Optimus would be. After making a fast check of the Autobots location, she knew where to find him. He was very close to the base in Jasper, though not right beside it, something to do with scouting. He was the only one she looked for, she had not bothered to check anything further. Ordinarily, she would have checked their activity for the day and found all of them, but she was in a rush- She had not checked on them since she found they had a new recruit and made sure he was not a Decepticon spy that would complicate her life. Catching Optimus alone so she could talk with him without interruption was best. He, like herself, was far more reason centered than the rest of his team. The leader was easier to win over than the rest of his group by far. Not to mention easier for a logic based, quiet femme like herself to talk openly with. She would not have enjoyed explaining things to the high strung and grouchy Ratchet, or the suspicious Arcee.

Slim, sleek pedes crunched over the dirt as she raced for the location, rocks kicking up behind her as she went. As of yet, she had not seen fit to take on a vehicle form and she was not at all convinced she wanted to. Something in her was against the idea even though she knew full well the Prime would insist if he allowed her to stay with his group. She, however, might fight him on that point. Taking on such a form was unneeded when she was capable of moving on her own struts. Picking a form to her liking would be impossible considering she cared nothing at all for any vehicles she had seen on the planet. The idea of hiding was fine, but she simply did not intend to be seen so it should be good enough.

This is what she liked, the feel of wind over her body and earth under her, strips at her back swaying lazily behind her. The mostly silver body gleamed in the sun as she ran like a comet. Her body was naturally wind resistant, a body made for gliding, slightly like a seekers. On occasion back on Cybertron, she had been mistaken for a seeker, thought to be one of few surviving seeker femme of the time. In a few battles she played a part in she knew some reports had her down that way. It was easy to understand though, considering her weapons appearance. Her weapon of choice was something she herself created... parts of its designs were inspired by a seeker, though only the design, not the function. On the rare occasions when she had call to use her developed device, she was unsure if either side remembered what occurred after it activated.

As a more creative type, prone to science and long times behind computers, she had never been much for battles. She was all smooth lines, curves, and edges. Even Arcee was larger than she was by a slight amount. Though she could dodge and avoid hits, returning them was not her most shining subject, thus, she found a way to level the field. No one touched a servo to her after she created-

Her optics focused on the large blue and red mech in the distance below her. He stood tall and imposing even though she was on one of the humans rocky cliffs and he was in a dipping rift below. She was far above him but it seemed as if he was still larger than life. His wide, red, symbol adorned shoulders already looked to be as big as her whole body. His hugely broad shoulder, thick limbs, and towering height compared to her small but pointed shoulders, thin and breakable limbs, and relatively petite body was slightly overwhelming. Had she let herself, she would have marveled at how frightening a foe he was, but if she dwelled, she would be staying up here. If he attacked her before she could arm her weapon, she would indeed be offlined.

Without further thought on the matter, she launched into the air, the wing shaped bar above her spark, extensions down her back, and winged sections at the cheeks of her helm made a whistling sound for a moment as she descended. Sliding herself into position, the wind resistance acted almost as a net to slow her into as near a glide as a non-flier could come. Her pedes touched the ground a moderate distance from the leader, graceful flow and motion making her landing seem more like a bird coming in from the sky.

His sharp optics had found her before she even touched the ground, following her as if he was taking in her every weakness. He seemed to have analysed her fully by the time she hit the ground. Those pure blue, yet terrifying optics stared at her with a hint of curiosity. Though the Prime seemed ready to bring out his weapon, he made no move to do so for the time. Even so, she moved ahead slowly and casually to ensure she gave him no reason for alarm. He towered over her like the mountains in this place, strong shining arms alone enough to crush her. His thick, rounded servos could easily snap her in two.

The sleek little femme tipped her helm respectfully in greeting, placing one servos over her spark, "Optimus Prime, I am Skyfreeze... also known as Skyangel." She lifted her head to meet his optics, "I am pleased to make your acquaintance at last."

The great mech's dark shaded optic ridges turned down minutely, his smooth and strong voice as even as the horizon, "Greetings to you as well." For lack of needing to introduce himself in return, he simply cut to the chase, as she had done, "How might I assist you, Skyfreeze?" His glowing orbs made a swift search of her then returned to her face again after having found neither a Decepticon symbol nor Autobot.

The small femme took no offense at the act considering it was only too natural for him to seek a way to read her intentions. "I wish to join you, quite simply." She slowly lifted her hand held device, pointing one servo to the screen where a decoded message was displayed, "And I have also brought you this as a gift. A decoded set of coordinates from the Decepticon database."

Optimus eyed the display with interest if not suspicion, even voice betraying nothing of his thoughts, "How did you acquire this information, Skyfreeze?" His chest plating visibly tightened as he stared at her, trying to decide what to make of her.

Though she was bombarding him with rapid information, he was taking it in stride, like all Primes, "I stole it from Soundwave's data. After the incident with the ship and dark energon, I was able to hack the system from my ship before landing on earth." She took a step forward, extending the device to him, "They have not yet found this code... so if you hurry, you will arrive at it first... potentially even avoiding a battle."

His large blue helm cocked slightly to the side as he took the datapad from her, optics turning down to it even though she knew he was watching her out of his peripheral. "Is joining our ranks the only thing you ask?" He paused, optics flitting between the pad and the femme, "And forgive my bluntness, but I cannot help noticing your lack of a symbol or signature of Autobot or Decepticon. I must ask you to identify yourself."

The lack of real tone change in his voice nearly made her smile considering how alike they were, at least as even tempered, "I expected the question, Sir. My answers are; Yes, it is all I ask in return... and yes, you are correct in that I have no markings." Her words were short, but she kept her tone as even as his, "I have none because I was removed from Cybertron shortly after the war began." She took one small step closer to him, "I did not join either side, in short."

That gained a slight raise of his optic ridges, "You were sideless?" The wheels were almost visibly turning in his mainframe as potential realizations dawned - He very well may have realized who she was with this information, but he revealed nothing, skipping to another point. "If you do not find my question intrusive, might I ask what brought you to earth?"

"After I awoke from induced stasis, my ship traveled for some time without direction... until your message finally found its way to my communications system." Her answer was direct and held enough truth to be passable without straying into information she had no plan to share. "Thus, I traveled here to find you. In doing so, my ship crossed paths with the Nemesis where I tapped into the system after the ship was weakened."

"I see." He nodded, optics casually drifting to the extensions hanging down her back, indicating further that he knew exactly who she was.

Even being sideless, most times, both sides decided she was with the other. Autobots believed she was Decepticon, and the reverse as well. She had yet to decide if his knowing who she was could be for her good or if it was detrimental. While she liked his quiet nature she wished he was slightly more revealing. He was the wisest mech Cybertron had produced in more vorns that anyone cared to think about. The Prime was by far the best hope any bot had ever been given. To a point, she regretted not having had the chance to join him back in that time. Though she was dwarfed by his giant power filled form, she could not help trusting him. Whenever she had been around Megatron back then, all she felt was ill at ease and wary.

Though not her type, Optimus was a handsome mech. The light from the sun hitting his metal caught her eye even though she did not intend to stare at him. There was an odd purity to him even though he had been through more than anyone knew and had battled so long. There was also well earned wisdom that radiated off of him like a calming pulse of a spark. Now that she was seeing him with her own optics she could understand what bots meant when they talked about him being their hope for peace.

"Not to be rude, however, Soundwave is not slow in his work. If you do not act swiftly, he will also have this code." She prompted softly, vocalizer not fully engaging.

He looked up at her again and nodded "You are correct. Time is always of the essence."

He took a few steps toward her causeing something within her to desire to flinch away, but she held firm. His large form stood beside her stoically before calling for a bridge. It almost shocked her that he intended to allow her in so easily. Even though he was logic based she expected to have to work a bit harder to convince him to accept her. Still, he seemed to intend to allow her entry. She guessed it had to do with his age old saying about how every 'bot deserved a chance.

The swirl of green lights appeared before them and the Prime's huge pedes began to move him forward into the bridge. She almost questioned whether or not he wanted her to follow but he did not move to stop her when she began to follow behind him. She felt comfortable around him, even walking through the bridge with him seemed suddenly normal. Perhaps she could hope for the best in this situation. The bridge opened up to the base hidden within the mountain, large Autobot symbol on the floor a little hard to miss.

The all too familiar mechanical shifting hum of a transformation, partial transformation, hit her audio and she instinctively dove and rolled to the side as Arcee's wrist mounted blasters exploded her way. Her body moved on its own in the next second as the black and yellow mech's blasts hit to the side of where she intended to flee, forcing her the other way once again. With the bridge closed already, she had no place to run. The sound of her own transformation hit the air as she brought out her own weapon, not at all interested in being shot. The three bars at both sides of her back now stood erect like a long set of wings, the eyelets coming to life in a glow of blue as she let a white blast from the two top bars erupt - One winglet's shock hit the dark blue femme, and the other hit the yellow mech. Optimus had been shouting out an order, though none of them had been paying attention, at least not until now. The leader's blue optics were now focused on his two frozen warriors, both poised in absolute stillness, a similar stasis as the Nemesis had rendered them a short time ago.

Skyfreeze eyed the new young mech that came dashing into the room, her extension weapons still poised like odd metal wings over her. Again, Optimus moved to interfere since the youth already had his weapons out, aiming for her. Optimus brought out his gun, though she was unsure when he had done it, all she knew was that it was there now. It was not yet pointing at her as he watched Arcee and Bumblebee sag slightly as they came back online. Ratchet was already moving for them like a father rushing to a child after a bike accident. She knew each of these Cybertronians on sight, thanks to the records.

"Stand down!" Came the booming and powerful voice of the Prime, likely having been shouting that all along without avail.

All but Ratchet turned their optics to him, knowing the order was for all of them. While none of them retracted the weapons, the room had taken on a stillness, a stalemate, almost. Arcee and Bumblebee turned to stare at her in a puzzled sort of confusion, not understanding what had even occurred just yet. They allowed Ratchet to scan them both as everyone else stayed in total silence. There was a tension in the room that could have been cut with a servo but Skyfreeze stood utterly still, not seeking to engage them further - Battle was not her goal.

The medic turned on her with all the anger of an irate father, "Just what do you think you were doing?" He roared at her, "And who in Primus are you?"

"You need not worry, they were only stunned. No damage was delivered." With utterly no emotion betrayed in her vocaliser or optics, she replied with simplicity, "My name is Skyfreeze."

Optimus spoke up with a hint of what could have been annoyance or exasperation, "I fear the responsibility for this rests on me. Had I informed you I was bringing a guest there would have been no incident. In my haste, I acted carelessly. " His arm transformed back into his normal servo and he held out the datapad to Ratchet. "Skyfreeze delivered information to me while I was out and I agreed to allow her to come back with me."

The dark blue femme found her voice first, "What information did she deliver?" Her optics narrowed at the other intruder, "And where did they come from?"

Looking over the pad, Ratchet answered before Optimus had the chance, "They are coordinates to the next relic... Decepticon data."

All eyes were drilling into her with radiating suspicion, all but the Prime, "I stole the information when I hacked their system. I brought them as a gift." She said simply, still making no move at all that would alarm them.

"_A gif_t?" Bumblebee whirred in his broken words, his white, derma free faceplate twisted in distrust.

Skyfreeze nodded slowly as her answer.

"Skyfreeze has requested to join our team after her travels in space brought her to earth." Optimus explained swiftly since the femme clearly did not plan to.

Arcee sneered at the other femme, "One new recruit I can believe... mostly... but two in a matter of a days time? That is too coincidental for me to buy... especially from a seeker."

This time, Skyfreeze was swift to answer, emotionless as she sounded, "I am not a seeker, these wings are not functional for flight."

"Right, just to put us in stasis so you can kill us off the cowards way, without risking your tiny helm." Arcee shot back with venom in her voice, "Or maybe we are the ones you planned to gift to Megatron while we were unable to move."

"I only gave you a stun that would last a few seconds..." Her own optics narrowed ever so slightly, "Enough time that you might cool your fans."

Arcee turned to Optimus swiftly, marching up to him, "Please tell me you are not planning to allow her to stay here! She is obviously a spy. No one can hack the Nemesis that easily unless they let her do it." She tossed an accusing servo toward the winged femme, "If we go there, it is bound to be a trap!"

"Perhaps, but we cannot afford not to pursue the lead. We cannot have more relics fall into their hands. Skyfreeze has brought us information that we must persue before Megatron does."

Bumblebee finally spoke again, "What if it_ is_ a trap? What if she_ is_ a spy?" His optic ridges turned down, "Should we take her with us on the mission?"

* * *

Starscream had no idea what was causing the obvious disruption in the Autobot group, but he had never been one to pass up a chance when handed it. He was even more pleased that it had been a rookie assigned to watch him. Before, he hated it, but with the slip up, he enjoyed it. Only a rookie would have rushed away to leave a prisoner unattended at the simple sound of cannon blasts. Granted, the shouting Prime did indicate something was happening, but any soldier with time under his circuitry would have known better than to leave the enemy alone in the base. Locking the door was really not good enough, especially for a prisoner such as an ex-commander. Did that sparkling really think he could not escape a poorly, hastily locked door?

One would think after all his bragging about escaping a Decepticon ship, he would think a little more about how to prevent it happening here. Smokescreen was far more interested in bragging than his real work. Gloating seemed to be his one and only skill. It clearly was not ensuring the door was tightly locked. What a fool!

As it was, the cuffs had been easy enough to break open. The lock on the door took a few human seconds to best. The streamline seeker made his way silently from the room and hurried toward where he knew the ground bridge was. It was the only exit he actually knew, so he would have to use it. Before the shouting and charging blasters, he had taken note that the ground bridge opened. While the group was still in that room, from the sound of it, he could still make his way out after they moved. Even if they did not, whatever caused the stir should be enough to hold their attention off him while he made his move. Better still would be if the potential invader was Decepticon.

As he moved carefully closer, he began to make out some of the words being spoken.

The first voice he knew was the one called Arcee, "Right, just ... you can kill us... without risking your tiny..." She sounded angry but he edged closer anyway, "Or maybe we are the ones you planned to gift to Megatron while we were unable to move."

He frowned at the mention of Megatron - So it was an invasion?

"I only gave you a stun that would last a few seconds... Enough time that you might cool your fans." A new femme's voice.

The seeker's body went ridged at the sound of that voice, but he knew it was impossible. There was no way it could have been_ that_ femme's voice. She was dead, everyone knew it. The Autobots had killed her many centuriess ago, even before the war had been too harsh. He found that his servos were suddenly shaking uncontrollably, his wings quivering with anxiousness. Could it be her? His system was set on edge in totality. Was it possible that she had been alive all this time?

His spark pulsed hard in his chassis at the thought. Some piece of hope filled him, one he was afraid to let bloom in fear it was a lie. It was true that he had never seen the body. Megatron said she was utterly destroyed and even taken away for parts. All they had left from her body was a single bar extension from her left wing. His fans nearly kicked on without permission, wanting to cycle to cool him as he considered the potential. He could not count the times he dreamed about her being alive but he never dared think of it in his waking moments. His mind shot back to the last time he saw her in the labritory, not long before she was killed in a raid. Every curve of her face, all those sharp but delicate edges of hers, he remembered them even now. Carefully, his slim pedes edged him closer to the hall opening. It was dangerous if they saw him, but he simply had to know if it could really have been true or if his audio was glitching.

Bumblebee was now speaking but Starscream hardly noticed, it was something about a mission.

Slowly, his helm peeked around the corner, optics sweeping the room.

* * *

Before she could even think to answer the accusations being tossed her way, a voice broke in past all the rest, making her stop cold. It was a voice she knew all too well, low, with a slight edge, but always delivered like high grade energon. Her fans hitched as her processor allowed it to draw her attention to the figure now in the doorway, the figure that called her name, or her pet name.

"**_Angel!_**" The low breathy voice nearly shouted.

Her optics went wide as she saw the unforgetable form of the seeker slide into full view, "_Starscream_?" Her voice held all the shock she was feeling, a smile playing at her derma, the first sign of emotion she had shown since arriving on earths soil.

He took a few timid steps forward, seeming to have forgotten, as she had, all about the Autobots, "Impossible..." He mused, though he sounded more pleased by it than anything, red optics light with what could only be called joy.

Like a set of magnets being placed in range of each other, the two swiftly found themselves together, neither aware which one moved first. The femme hardly noticed her pedes leave the ground as her old friend's arms pulled her up into the hug. Her shoulders relaxed, system instantly feeling tension relief when she felt his arms circling her waist. Their helms rested together a moment before he shifted to nestle his faceplate into her neck cables. Until this moment she was not even aware of her own tensed cables, shoulder and back struts stretching with the release. She reveled in the feeling of his familiar chassis against her own. Even after so much time had passed, these arms were still more welcoming and calming that any recharge could be, the simple feeling enough to make her melt the way human's chocolate did on heat filled days.

"Angel..." He mused again, "I can't believe it!" The words were only slightly muffled by the way his derma were pressed lightly against her neck.

"I had no idea you were here." Though she would have if she had taken the time to look, but she felt too happy to dwell on that.

"I-I thought you were dead." His voice was softer, almost forced with that admission.

"Just a rumor." A quiet laugh buzzed in her vents.

Angel knew she should pull away, but he held her tight, faceplate buried into her neck cables. He seemed desperate, as if she might vanish once he let her go. Slowly, she gave a firm press to his chassis with both servos, indicating gently, but firmly, that he needed to let her go. While she honestly had the desire to remain in his hold forever, she could not allow it. Nothing could have hurt more than to pull away from the arms she had longed for so long, but she had to pull away all the same. To feel him, touch him, and hear his voice again brought her more happiness than she had felt in all this time since Cybertron. Pulling back nearly made her weak. This development was unexpected.

Reluctantly, he allowed her to pull away from him, her pedes instantly moving her back a few steps though she did not turn away, optics still locked onto his even though her smile was gone. Her own protective walls could not allow others to watch her show affection out of simple fear of showing weakness. Weaknesses were what brought trouble to everyone. Already, she had shown far too much of her emotion. The shock of seeing him was too much, but her processor had already begun to run horribly through the potential negative outcomes from the display, which were slightly brought to life a second later as Arcee spoke up.

"Now I know we can't trust her!" Arcee's optic ridge turned down in a glare as Skyfreeze turned to look at her. "Anyone close to the slagging seeker has to be as bad as he is." The blue femme turned what was as close to an accusing gaze to Optimus as it could get.

Guns were now pointed in the Seeker's direction as well as hers but she took no notice, simply crossing her servos over her chassis. Unconsciously, she took a step to position herself, hip joints shifting defiantly, in front of her old friend. Her optics drilled them all as she stood, unmoving. Keeping calm was really the only option in these cases, though inwardly, she was anything but. Seeing the seeker, that was so unexpected, welcome, yet horrible all at once. Things had just become far more complicated, though she could not quite bring herself to be angered over it with him so near. Optimus waved his giant servo in an indication for the others to stand down again, which they did, mostly.

Starscream visibly bristled, mouth opening with what she knew could only be a string of insults, so, she cut him off, "Please..." She shot a harsh look at the mech behind her before turning back to the others, "You have a right to distrust me, but you will have to go soon to the coordinates if you hope to recover the item. In just this time, Soundwave might already have decoded it."

Optimus took a heavy step toward the bridge, "That is correct. We must investigate without delay... further delay." He amended his last words as if thinking over the past few moments.

"But Optimus, we cannot leave_ two_ Decepticons unattended in our base!" Arcee protested, "Even with Ratchet here, we have to think of Bulkhead. Ratchet cannot guard both of them and take care of Bulkhead." Her burning optics shot to Smokescreen in accusation, "And the first guard we put on duty could not even keep_ one_ in check."

Optics narrowing, the white, blue, and red mech seemed ready to defend himself, but was instantly headed off by the leader.

"Smokescreen will guard Starscream while we are gone." Prime's clear voice was strong, making it clear that this was the final word, "Skyfreeze will come with us as our guide, as Bumblebee suggested."

"What?" Starscream bellowed, optics blazing, "You mentioned Megatron earlier, but you intend to bring her with you anyway?" His words turned to a snarl, dipping low and threatening, "Do you plan to use her as a shield or cannon fodder?"

Keeping her helm so she could see both sides, she spoke calmly, "I will be fine. I have no objections to accompanying you on the mission, but we still need to hurry."

"Angel!" Starscream reached for her, catching her shoulder to turn her his way, "You cannot be serious! Do you really think they will protect you after they tried to kill you before I came in?" He said that as if he was the one that stopped it all, "You cannot go with them!"

Her optics betrayed a slight amount of annoyance, but only slight, "Do not presume you can instruct me, Starscream. I no more will follow your commands now than I did then." Her helm cocked to the side with a slight bit of playfulness, one servo coming to rest on her hip joint, "If you remember me at all, you should remember that I am not as delicate as my appearance indicates... nor am I as docile as I seem."

"Fine! But do not come running to me when they let you get hurt." His voice sounded harsh, but the worry was hidden deep within it, "But I swear, you better come back because I have a lot of questions to ask you... if, you are not too suborn to answer._ Hard headed femme, you never listen to me_." He muttered the last part more to himself than anything.

"Understood." She stated simply, the betrayal of play gone from her face as she marched to stand near the Prime.

The bridge swirled to life instantly and she stepped into it even before the Prime could, eager, if not angered to the point of intent to prove herself. Her wings were still out, so she was ready if anything came at her. She would not be caught off guard by either side. There had been just about enough stress for one day. If the bots would stop fighting with her, they just might beat the Decepticons. She had every reason to want to Autobots to get this relic first, even if they did not know it yet. A slight bit of heat was radiating off her from anger. Her anger was not so much directed at anyone, but just general irritation. It was strange to feel it this much.

Seeing her old friend hit a few nerves she had not been expecting to be hit. He had her feeling emotional where calm had been. It was silly how the short time with him stirred so much in her that she was not used to feeling anymore. She had seen him in the records but it was different, he was different. The records held a mech she almost did not know anymore. War had changed him. Still, just now, he seemed so like himself, the way she knew him. He had always been moody, prone to vanity, quick to speak when he should be silent, headstrong, and even foolish, but he had never been cruel when she knew him. Seeing him in the records forced her to separate herself from him, sticking to a strictly observatory view. It let her cut off her emotions and simply watch. She had not expected seeing him to draw back her emotions so instantly.

He had always been one of the only she knew that could draw her out of her logic based shell. She was happy being apart from others, never letting them get close. It was easier not to feel or become attached to anyone, most of all after the war started. Starscream had been different though. Once they began working together, her emotionless exterior had been something of a challenge to the mech, and he refused to relent until he finally got to her. He got to her anger first, which had earned him a reward - Getting locked in the supply closet all night until she returned to following morning to let him out. Needless to say, he learned a lesson about her anger in that first emotional show. After that though... they somehow became friends. He was the only one that could bring out her emotions even now, though she did show more personality than she used to. There was a time she was more like Soundwave, utterly emotion free, but not now.

Skyfreeze stepped out, pedes hitting the dirt. Optimus moved in beside her, which was a comfort. Being near him meant safety as well as assisting in calming her with his aura of utter unshakable steadiness. Even when Arcee and Bumblebee moved in closer she still felt at ease being beside the giant. He likely had no idea how much help he was to her currently. Thus far, he was the only one she trusted not to shoot her. She wanted to stay close to him for multiple reasons, most of all in case Megatron appeared.

The thought of that hulking mass of metal nearly made her shiver. That was the other thing Starscream had been so helpful with, reminding her about that monster back at the Autobot base. Little did he know how true it was, what he said about her death. She would not tell them, any of them, but she had indeed died. It was not something she cared to think back on. Different places on her body twinged with the memory of being torn to pieces by those enormous clawed fingers. A sharp ghost pain in her leg made her stumble slightly.

To her surprise, a servo reached out to steady her, his broken vocalizer beeping, "_Don't worry, you will get used to the terrain_." He had interpreted the stumble as a lack of balance.

"Ah..." She nodded to him as he withdrew his servos, "Thank you."

Perhaps they were not so terrible, not really. Some part of her regretted a few of the unkind thoughts she had held in her processor toward him for the base incident. They were just protective of their leader and team, which she could understand. The first impression had been a rather poor one, but she could get past that. She had seen enough in the records to know they were not as horrible as she felt them to be while being fired at. The scout was even kind, to her, a suspected spy. She had to wonder if the Prime believed her to be a spy still, and was simply listening to her because he had no choice. That was likely, but she would earn their trust as soon as possible. The datapad in Optimus' servos beeped to indicate the location as he focused on it.

Finally, they had it! Had she been a more vocal bot, she would have cheered. So far, no 'Cons, which was more than a little encouraging. The rest of the day just might turn out to be a good one. Her optics made a quick scan of the area and took a chance to glance at the detector in the leader's hand. The relic had already been nearly uncovered, though not by bots. It seemed this one was easy to get to thanks to the humans that had already been digging in this area. Humans called it excavation, likely in search of historic relics of their own.

Bumblebee stepped up first, driving his servos into the ground at the indicated spot. His blunt servos sifted into the dirt with more ease than she expected, the dirt rippled and shattered as he pulled up, servo coming up suddenly with the small round pod. He held it out for them to see, but did not open it yet. Optimus nodded, seeming as pleased as he ever let on. The yellow and black mech handed the pod to his leader carefully, all of them tensed, unsure what it contained. One pod had nearly been Bulkhead's undoing, though they did not know she knew. They had no way to know that she had been monitoring them, and she was not about to tell them.

The sound of a bridge opening sets them all ridged, each knowing it did not belong to them. Optimus had yet to call for Ratchet to open it again. So much for an uneventful mission, she mused grudgingly.

**AN: Takes place after TFP "New Recruit" with the alteration of Starscream actually escaping. I do not normally bring OC's into fanfics but I could not help it this one time. The idea just hit me and I had to do it. I hope you like her and the story!**


	2. Open Wounds

**Open Wounds**

The sleek seeker-like femme took an involuntary step closer to to scout as she watched a large group of Vehicons step out of the bridge, Dreadwing on their heels. Her optics shuttered slightly when she saw gleaming, bulky silver armor coming up behind them all. If only they had been just a little faster to leave. Skyfreeze had really hoped not to have to see the gladiator so soon upon arrival. While he was an interesting case to analyze at a distance, her interest died when faced with him. The in person Megatorn was not something she cared for.

Her weapon wings quivered slightly as her optics set on those claws, remembering how it felt to be at the end of them. It was so easy not to think about it while she watched or read records in the computer, but facing him again brought back the terror of that last day on Cybertron. She glanced at the Autobots to snap herself back to the current time, all of them had weapons drawn and pointed. The Prime held the orb tightly in one servo, but used the other as his cannon. She knew they wanted to open the device here to be sure it was not a trap or toxic substance but it did not look like they had that option now.

"Skyangel...?" Megatron's slickly icy voice pulled her attention back, his narrow red eyes cutting into her like blades.

Her spark twinged instantly, pain hovering at her chamber, making her wish she could rub at it. The way he stared at her, optics tinted with shock and hesitant puzzlement, told her she was the last creature in the universe he ever expected to see again, and rightly so, but a wry smirk crossed his derma anyway. She had to fight to keep her fans cycling normally, fight not to slink behind the Prime, fight not to flinch as his smile grew wider, and fight to keep her chin up in the fake confidence she was so good at portraying. Her left knee twitched either out of a ghost pain or out of her desire to flee, she was not sure which.

"It has been a long time." Megatron finally finished in that bariton slime of a vocalizer that melted into her audios.

"Has it?" She asked coyly, surprised by her own cocky lilt - Starscream was a good influence on her in some cases.

Those huge tinted silver pedes moved him forward with his confident stride of a long time warrior, "I will admit, I never expected yours to be among the faces I saw here when Soundwave told me Autobots were already on site." His jagged fangs were hard not to stare at while he spoke.

"I am quite sure you did not." She returned, words void of emotion once again. "Not that I particularly intended to see you either, but you always have been skilled at showing up in unfortunate ways."

His characteristic, gravely laugh rose to her, "Still the same femme, formal and businesslike even when you _try_ insulting me, " The dictator's crazed eyes drilled her before moving to the Prime, "Where did you find her, Optimus? The graveyard? Are you that desperate now?"

He thought that was trying? If he wanted her to work harder, she could. It was hard not to allow herself the luxury of a frown when he made the last jab at her. The Autobots each gave him a similar look of confusion, not knowing what he could be talking about, but Optimus said nothing in return. They had no reason to understand that 'joke' of his, but she did, and it struck a chord in her. The slime had the gall to make fun of what he had done to her on Cybertron, and really, what he had done to the planet. Come to think of it, was he not the one the tried to rob the grave? Who was he to speak of desperation anyway, not that it really mattered at the moment. Still, it enraged her. This worthless mound of metal had the ball bearings to hold his head high after all he had done to Cybertron in the name of freedom?

Her servos crossed over her chassis, the way she had seen Starscream do many times, intent on seeming unmoved. "I see you have also not changed. Even your arrogance, poor humor, and dull wit is the same. It was too much to hope you might improve with age."

"Careful." His razor sharp optics flashed with a crazed, yet annoyed smile, "Remember how we parted company the last time."

Likely, she should have stayed silent, but she could not manage to hold it in, "I do not remember keeping company with you, I only recall you lurking at the doorstep like an unwanted **_pet_**."

"Skyfreeze!" Was Optimus' warning, though too late to keep her quiet.

The attack was inevitable now, thanks to her angry lashing, awaking the sleeping enemy. For all her emotionless acting she was far from it. The angry flash from the enemy made her wish she was somewhere else, or that she could have let Starscream teach her a little less. Her own words were what would bring his anger on her and that nearly sent her into a panic. The Vehicons rushed at them, Dreadwing only a second behind. Her optics widened as fear spiked through her, the hulking blue flier heading right for her. How could she have been so foolish, foolish enough to provoke him? Blazes of blue flashed around her as the Autobots began to fire their weapons, blasts of red returning in kind. Her wings twitched, eyelets down all six charging with a blue glow in ready. Normally, they stayed a dull grey-blue, no light to give them any shine. When they charged, however, all her round eyelets glowed bright with the same blue as the Autobot weapons. She did not even think, she simply began firing her charges at them, her eyes used as the main weapon targeting system - The wings were an extension of herself, so they were wired into her processor for better accuracy probability.

The large blue mech managed at avoid her first few hits, using the Vehicons as shields, leaving them frozen in place as he moved to a new location. It had been too long since she had been in a battle and she had a bad feeling she was rusty. Still, fear was a great motivator to improve. Her spark was pounding hard against her chassis, but she ignored it. Though battle had always frightened her, it also spurred her to move, considering the alternative - A fight did bring out her aggressive side, it always had. The charge was set to full power, so the Vehicons currently in stasis lock would not be moving again until well after the battle was over, not that Megatron would care. He would care, however, if his new second was hit and rendered useless for a while, so she focused her attention on him. Megatron was busy with Optimus for now, locked blades making a harsh sound as they clashed, successfully making him a target she did not dare try to hit. He was too close to Optimus for her to make an attempt, and she had a hunch he knew that. That was likely the reason he did not charge her himself. Seemingly, his memory had not gone bad with the dark energon.

Even in the battle, Megatron's words still caught her audio, as she was sure he intended, "If she is one of your new pets, Optimus, I suggest you train her better." The metal of their blades screamed in protest as the Prime tossed the other backward, lunging again while Megatron's balance was off, "I also suggest," The Decepticon snarled past gritted, sharp, denta as he blocked the blow, "that you watch her carefully. You never can trust those that can't pick a side."

Skyfreeze was almost glad when Dreadwing's bomb flying at her forced her to move out of hearing of the conversation. Part of her did not care to know what the Prime thought of her. Without thinking far past her anger, rather than running farther from the bomb, she snatched it out of the ground and hurled it back at the mech. If he wanted to fight, he should come to her level and do so, it was the only way she could catch him. Two other bombs on the ground were beeping fast in indication they were close to detonation. It was foolish, likely, but she scooped those up as well, tossing them each his way. The first she threw had been an easy dodge, even the second thrown was easy. Thank Primus, the smoke from the first two ensured he did not even see the third coming.

The explosion connected seconds before the bomb could attach against him but it was more than enough to throw him off, forcing him into a harsh landing. The dirt kicked up around him wildly, clumps and rocks sailing every direction as he plowed over it on his front. The femme ignored a few stray blasts that came her way, sprinting as fast as she could for the downed fighter while he was still in range. He fell nearly at her feet, but getting to him without being shot was another issue. Her wings pulsed as she focused on the charge, shifting more of her power into them to boost their potency.

"Don't let her get to Dreadwing!" Megatron bellowed from somewhere behind her, "Take her down, now! Leave her spark in pieces the way it should be!"

The few free drones turned their attention onto her, though they had been focused on Arcee and Bumblebee. Thankfully, that order came too late for the First Lieutenant now that she was right beside him. Without bothering to look up and slow her speed, she swiftly dropped down over him, knee joints catching either side of his waist to anchor her in place, delivering the close bast before he could move to get up. The rage filled, triumphant glint in her optics focused on Megatron as she tilted up the large helm, his horns serving as grips for her small servos. Satisfaction brimmed in her as the drones fire stopped, unsure what to do now that she was using the second as a shield. Skyfreeze, however, knew exactly what to do, her wings lighting with the charge as she fired eleven blasts at once - She loved these wings of hers! All but five connected, effectively causing the few remaining to backpedal in order to avoid being next - They had further issues when the yellow and black mech rushed them from behind.

It should not feel this good to have gotten Megatron's second, especially since the records showed he was not as horrible as most of the 'cons, but she could not help it. Even she had to allow a smirk to grace her derma, grinning like the human's mythical cheshire cat. The only thing that would have felt better was to be holding Megatron's helm up as her shield, having his body is stasis lock. Too bad he was not in range.

Megatron snarled before barking an order to retreat and attain Dreadwing. Feeling no need to keep the huge beast under her, especially since he would eventually be able to move again, she rolled off of him to hide herself behind one of the frozen drones. None of them made any attempt to come after her, they seemed all too eager to follow the order to fallback. As expected, they did not bother to take the frozen drones, or rather, Megatron did not leave them time to take any but the frozen second. The Autobots continued to fire their weapons even as the bridge appeared, swallowing them all up... or what was left of them - Only about six drones, a frozen second, and a clearly damaged leader. Whatever the Prime did, there was a clear and unmistakable trail of violet energon left in the wake of the bridge. They would not be missed in her book.

With the group gone, Skyfreeze moved to stand, her optics going wide as pain shot through her right pede. At first, she guessed it to be a ghost pain as it had been before, but as she pulled herself up, leaning heavily on the frozen drone, she noticed energon leaking fast from it. There was a significant amount of damage to it from a blast, a rather large hole, and multiple sparking wires exposed. Until now, she did not even feel it. How many others of those did she have that she had not found? She did not wish to show weakness to the others though, so she forced her struts to straighten and walked toward them with as little of a limp as she could manage.

As she moved closer, she saw Arcee lift her blaster to one of the frozen drones, "What are you doing?" Skyfreeze called with perhaps more volume than she intended.

Arcee's gaze turned to her, an optic ridge arching, "Isn't it obvious?" She sounded incredulous, as if there was no other answer, "Once they snap back, they will be shooting again. It's best to put them down before that can happen."

Her spark pulsed suddenly with something close to anger, "But they are totally at your mercy! They cannot even defend themselves, but you want to kill them like that anyway?"

"Relax, they are only drones. It's not as if they have a mind of their own. Who knows if they even can feel it." The blue femme tilted her helm, readying to fire again. "They would do the same to us."

"Don't!" Something about this did not set with her, it made something in her cry out for their helpless state... that she placed them in, "Isn't this against your codes or something? Are you really alright with killing the defenseless?"

"We will leave the Drones alive. Soundwave will pick them up once they alert him." Optimus suddenly spoke, causing all of them to turn toward him, all that could move, anyway. "They can find their way to a mine if they cannot be picked up."

"You're taking her side again?" Arcee came close to a growl, as close as she could come without being disrespectful.

The Prime did not flinch, "I am not taking sides. We do have a different code to live by than Decepticons, that is what keeps us from falling into their ways. We must not break that, even in cases like these."

"You were going to shoot Megatron when he was down after battling Airachnid's Insecticon..." Bumblebee whirred, obviously defending Arcee.

The wise optics of the leader turned to the scout, "I felt I had no choice if I intended to end this war. However, Megatron was not totally helpless... Killing the drones will also not end the war. I see no valor in such an act."

"So there is one standard for Megatron, and another for Drones?" Arcee quipped, obviously still unsatisfied.

"The drones have no choice but to follow orders, Megatron has always had a choice. He is different because he chose his path and they were born to theirs, without a choice." The Prime stated it so simply before turning to call for a bridge.

That was why she decided to follow the Autobot way, because of the one once called Orion. From a distance, she heard him speak once on Cybertron. After she heard him speak, she knew she could not follow Megatron. Granted, she followed him in the beginning, to a point, but not after she knew what the true leader was like. The warring way had never settled with her, which was why she never agreed to join either side. Freedom came at a price and she understood that, but true freedom was not simply trading one ruler for another. There had been a time, while Megatron was tempting Starscream to join, that she considered it but Optimus' way was the right one. It was easy to fall for Megatron's way, but she knew better, she knew the truth when she saw it. All her study of history and analyzing personalities had not been for nothing. Granted, in the day, some part of her pitied Megatron for all he went through, but pity was no reason to follow anyone.

* * *

Gingerly, the silver femme made her way down the hallway. As swiftly as possible on an injured pede, she had fled the others. The electric pain made it difficult not to limp, thus, she made sure to get out of their view. None of them had noticed her injuries on the way in. A few more had presented themselves, but none with any severity besides the one on her pede, which she intended to fix on her own. The wound to her side did force her to keep a servo pressed to it in order to slow the energon flow from the gash. These sorts of things were not hard, she herself knew a fair amount of medical knowledge in order to work at what she had on their planet.

Ratchet was very skilled, she did not deny his ability, she simply did not wish to show vulnerability so soon. It was better for her to seem capable and worthy as a warrior otherwise they might not desire for her to remain here. There was much they could count against her so she could not afford more. Now that the Decepticons knew of her survival she could not afford to be alone. Besides, she was ordered to come here, and she could not disobey. Like it or not, she had to be here, had to fight for them. Even though she respected the Prime, some part of her did resent being forced to come here and grovel for a place in his group. Begging to be taken in had never been in her vocabulary, which was why she brought a gift. If it was the last thing she did, she would earn this position.

"Well... look who was right!" A low, seductively delivered voice accosted her audios, instantly jerking her to attention.

Skyfreeze attempted to cover any amount of limping she might have been doing, servo snapping away from her side to standing firmly, "Excuse me?"

The sly smile on Starscream's faceplate did nothing but enhance his know-it-all reputation, "I seem to remember telling you they would not protect you." He uncrossed his servos to stroll her way, shadowed by Smokescreen, "Not only did they let you get hurt, they did not bother to help you either... so, don't you think you should have listened to me?"

"I am not hurt." She lied, but rather well even if she said so.

"Liar! I saw you walking down the hall. If that was not a limp you must be trying out a new human dance." He closed the distance between them, slipping an arm around her waist to support her, "What is the dance called?"

"Shut up." She narrowed her optics threateningly.

He hummed in amusement at his own coming joke, "Interesting name. How does the rest of it go?"

"Do you need help getting to the medical room?" Smokescreen finally offered, oddly timid about entering the display he might have seen as affection.

"I do not require medical attention, thank you." Skyfreeze shook her helm and shoved the seeker's servo away.

"Well," The rookie persisted, "I do see that you are leaking energon. Even if it is minor, the injury should be-"

The femme cut him off before he could continue, "I will handle my own repairs."

"Hmm, so you finally admit they let you get hurt!" Starscream leaned in to purr into her audio receptor. "I bet they did not lift a finger to help you, did they?"

"The injury had nothing to do with them. Injury is common during battle but I can handle myself." She went to leave the two mechs but a set of arms suddenly had her up off the floor, legs dangling over one servo, upper body cradled against his chassis and shoulder armor. The femme kicked with her good leg, slamming her fist into the Decepticon symbol. The ex-commander simply grinned at her playfully, ignoring her promises to dismantle him in his recharge. He always had enjoyed tormenting her, mainly by humiliating her publicly.

"I will see to her injury, just be useful and bring us some energon and the repair kit." Starscream cooed out the order as he passed the younger mech.

"Ratchet can fix it with no trouble." Smokescreen retorted, beginning to follow as if to cut them off.

"Trust me, she won't let him touch her. She made up her mind." His red eyes tossed a knowing look at the other, "It will be easier if you just get the kit."

It looked as if the youth would put up a fight but he relented without a further argument, leaving to presumably do as asked, though she doubted he would. The greater probability was that he would report the issues to the team, sending the medic in anyway. Starscream always did make her life more complicated whenever he was around. Still, she honestly had missed him, even missed how irritating he could be. Her body relaxed against him, faceplate slipping in to rest at the curve of his neck. For a moment, she allowed herself to snuggle against him, slipping her arms around him as best she could. Open shows of affection were difficult for her but they came much easier if no one was watching. She could relax if there were no prying optics to make her behave as she should. As a sparkling, she had been raised not to show her emotions, which worked for everyone but this mech.

In a voice far more soft and quiet, he finally spoke again as a door opened to a darkened room, "I missed you too, Angel."

He had always been the only one that took the time to understand her, even if he originally did it to find ways to irritate her. Her closed off manner made those around her deem her boring and unappealing. No one at the laboratory took the time to get to know her until he came to work there. From the first day he was stationed with her, she believed Primus had suddenly decided to hate her. He was loud and disrupted all her normal routines, and on purpose at that. No matter what she did, he was there to be in her way. He had even altered the results of a base test to ensure that her entire findings would be off for the rest of the day. Anyone that had ever run delicate testing in science knew how truly evil such an act was. Once she discovered what he had done to her, and that the endless frustration she suffered had been his idea of a joke, it was her tipping point. Pulling a prank of her own, she found a reason to bring him down to one of the supply rooms where she promptly locked him in.

She thought spending a night in that room would sober him, but it had not. Granted, he was more careful what he did to her, but he never stopped pressing her buttons, then exploring to find new ways to torment her. He took personal pleasure out of finding out exactly how to make her forget her self imposed correct behavior. She wanted his head most of the time. Exactly when their odd relationship turned into a friendship, she might never be sure. All she knew was that at some point, she laughed at his jokes and began looking forward to seeing him when she came to work. At some point, she realized he knew her better than anyone had in a very long time. The very one she believed to be Primus' joke on her turned into her dearest friend and one of the only to make it past her walls of protection.

The lights, dim though they were, came alive as they entered the small room. The room was cluttered and she honestly was not sure how anyone would find the berth without the light. It was a little surprising how run down she was once she allowed herself to feel it. He must have known it before she did. Gently, he lowered her onto a thinly padded berth, careful to rest her injured leg at the edge. Had he not turned to a life of war, he might have made a good medic, he had the bedside manner for it when he wanted to. Carefully, he tilted her knee joint as he slid in to sit at the edge, moving her injured leg to sit in his lap. His claws were shockingly gentle as he probed the exposed wires to see how badly they were damaged, his free hand lightly massaging the cables on the underside of her knee joint. With anyone else she would have considered the contact too much, and perhaps edging into too intimate, and pushed them away.

"So, of all places, why did you come here?" His red optics glanced up at her, "You said you did not know I was here, so why did you come to the Autobot base?" The way he said their name was almost like spitting at them with his tone.

"Where else would I go?" She returned his inquisitive stare, not intending to betray any of her reasons to him or anyone else.

There was a slight spark of anger in his optics at that, "You could have gone to your own kind."

"My own kind?" She let her vocaliazer remain flat, "I was not aware we were a different race from them."

There was an unmistakable edge to his voice, "You know what I mean!" He looked like he was ready to jump to his feet but he simply tugged her leg tighter against him, "How could you come here, to those creatures? How could you forgive them... and from what I gathered, help them!"

His sudden anger surprised her slightly, unsure what to do with him, "I'm afraid I do not see your point. The way I have read the history, Megatron is at fault for what happened to our planet. Were it not for his greed and lust for power, it would still be standing."

"I'm not talking about Cybertron, I'm talking about what they did to you!" He leaned his upper body forward enough that he was nearly in her face, "You can't tell me what they did to you... to both of us, is just forgiven!"

She blinked her optics at him in confusion, "I am afraid I am not sure to what you are referring, Starscream."

He nearly sneered, "You can't tell me you don't know what I mean. No one forgets something like that, Angel!" His optics took on a hint of sadness, "I know that it has haunted me all this time, even though I tried hard to forget. Why do you think I finally said yes to joining Megatron?"

The only thing she could think of to say was, "Why?"

"Revenge, that's why!" His voice had taken on more of a low growl than normal, "I wanted them to suffer for what they did."

What was he talking about? He seemed to believe she knew but she had no idea what event he could be speaking of. Something that involved both of them?Was there something she was forgetting? He seemed so intense, the anger and even pain clear and sharp in his voice. Now that she thought about it, she did not know what brought him into the ranks of the Decepticons, it was not on record. Before she got the chance to ask the question twirling in her processor, a slightly annoyed feminine voice snapped her thoughts away from the bewildering conversation.

"What do you two think we are running here, a 'Con dating service?" The human girl cocked her hips to one side as she crossed her arms over her chest, dark braid swaying at the motion, "First we have to take you in, now we have to walk in on a love session? Seriously!" Miko huffed, tossing a glance at the two human males with her.

"Miko, you can keep you commentary to yourself." Ratchet's gruff order made the femme's optics snap up from the floor as he came in.

Skyfreeze's faceplate began to heat as she realized the position she was currently in. While it was innocent, his body poised between her legs, helms so close it could have been interpreted as readying for a meeting of derma, and the dim lighting made it seem less than innocent. Without thinking, she flipped the seeker over the other side of the berth to get him off of her, sitting up just as swiftly. She only reconsidered the act after the rather loud crash resulting from it as he landed on whatever was on the floor. Starscream snarled up at her after he propped himself up but she did not look back to see how bad it was. Though she was careful to show no reaction on her faceplate, she was more than a bit mortified as well as guilty for any damage delivered to her friend. It was already shaping up to be a horrible day.

Instead of addressing any further issues, she simply focused on the broad shouldered, orange and white medic that was setting a kit on a cluttered table near her, "Thank you for bringing the kit. I can do the rest."

"Nonsense, I will take over your treatment while you are here." Ratchet glared her way, though indirectly, "Optimus ordered that I repair your wounds after Smokescreen told me of your energon loss. You should have informed me."

"I also have medical knowledge so I am capable of doing my own work." She stated flatly, not intent on allowing him close, "It is only very minor, nothing to bother with."

"I will do it." Ratchet stated, his derma set in a hard line, as if she had not even been protesting at all, as if he were doing her a favor.

"I have no need of assistance." The femme repeated more firmly this time, though she was careful not to return a glare.

A gravely chuckle rose as the seeker finally stood with a stretch of his struts, "She does not like to be touched so you will have a fight on your hands."

"Oh yeah? It didn't look like she minded being touched a minute ago." The tallest, raven haired, human boy muttered under his breath, perhaps amused.

The seeker shot the boy a sly smirk, voice turning suggestively low, "That is different, I have her conditioned." He planted his servos on the edge of the birth to lean over her shoulder, "It took forever."

Skyfreeze's blue optics flared, her building emotions coming to a boil at those words, "What was that?" Before he could flinch away, her servos were locked onto the long red spine between his optics, drawing a swift yelp. "I'm not sure I heard that, Star."

"I said you don't like to be touched?" His intakes hitched nervously, helm twisting to attempt to gain him a way out.

"No, Star, the other comment." She purred, using his hated pet name with a wicked glint in her optics as she tightened her grip.

His classic nervous chuckle made an appearance, "Funny, I can't seem to remember."

Though the medic tried hard not to show it, there was a hint of a smile playing at his derma. The femme let go of the seeker to slip down from the berth, ignoring the pain of standing. It took a bit more ignoring for her to kneel in front of the humans, running her optics over them. From the records, she knew their names, but she would not say them in case it tipped her hand. She was not supposed to know anything about the humans considering she just landed on earth. If she knew too much about anything, it would seem odd, so she would play dumb. Instead, she would ask questions she knew the answer to.

From what she had seen, she liked humans, deeming them a bit like the sparklings of her world. They were fragile but full of personality and even bravery. Each one was an individual and had their own mannerisms. They were even small, though smaller than most sparklings. They had potential though, a lot of it. It was nice to finally see them in person.

"Greetings, little ones." For once, she allowed herself a smile, "I am Skyfreeze."

"Yeah, we know, Bee told us about you." The smallest human male adjusted his large glasses with a smile, "My name is Rafael."

"So did Arcee," A sheepish grin edged at the male as he ran a hand through his dark hair nervously, "and I'm Jack... her human partner."

They were making a rather clear stand, though a friendlier one than they could have, she noticed.

The contrasting pink tufts of the girl's hair swayed slightly when she moved closer, seeming fearless, "I'm Bulkhead's partner, Miko." She tilted her head forward a bit, "So, are you a spy or what?" At least she did not hide her feelings.

Using the berth behind her as leverage, she forced herself back into a standing position, "I am pleased to encounter you. Perhaps we can talk another time." Her helm tipped toward Ratchet, having noticed him hovering worriedly as she had been near the humans, "And I will do my own repairs."

Clawed fingers jerked her roughly back onto the berth, forcing her into a reclining position, "In case you forgot, you are going to be low on energon soon if you don't stop that leaking. Stop being hard headed and let him do it. It's too much for me to do or I would."

She glared at him as he hovered over her, "I said I will do it. Minor injuries are a simple repair."

"It is not a minor repair." Both mechs in the room spoke at once, but they hardly seemed to notice - Ignoring the possible only time they would ever agree.

"It is minor enough." She finally allowed herself a lowering of her vocalizer to growl her words, but her growl turned to a vent when she felt something jab her in the knee joint.

"Thank you for distracting her, Starscream." Ratchet hummed, seeming amused as he drew away the injector.

Her wide optics shot up to the seeker, vision already fading, "Y-you slagging...rusting..."

"I know, I know." He cooed at her, "You'll dismantle me in my recharge."

"No..." She slurred, "I'll find a closet and lock you in it."

He glared down at her as she faded further, "Not funny."

* * *

So far, she was still in recharge after the shot, though she was in better condition than when she went under. There was quite a bit more damage to her system than she let show, but he knew that the minute he saw her coming down the hall. She was as stubborn as any creature alive in the universe, so seeing her walking in a slump meant she was in poor condition. Since she started out here, the medic had not seen fit to move her out of Starscream's room. They offered to give him another but he declined, insisting he could watch her. Slowly, the back of his servos ran over her delicate curves. The touch was lazy as his optics traveled over her to finally land on her faceplate. The offer was kind, surprisingly, but he had no desire to leave her. If his guess was right, she might be out for a while more.

She never had been good with drugs, they always got her. Even on Cybertron, he had only seen her take a highgrade drink once, and that was because he and the department got together and taunted her into doing it. Once he saw her like that, he knew why she never drank it. Granted, he did not hate seeing her let go like that, freely showing emotion as if she no longer cared, but he knew how much she hated being out of control. Though, honestly, that was the first time Angel made friends with the others in the workplace. For once, they saw her for what she was, full of life, humor, and fun... what he suspected of her all along. She just never gave anyone the chance to see her true personality.

Her Sire had been a scientist as well, and a great one, but not one given to emotion. He was logic based and viewed emotion as he would a scraplet infestation. While she was drunk that night, she told them about a time when she was a sparkling and she had seen an accident where a mech was killed. She said that the sight of a senseless death made her have a nightmare in her recharge, but instead of comforting his crying sparkling, her Sire hit her, warning her never to let emotion over things she could not change show through. He told her that if she wanted to feel something she should keep it to herself. It was enough to stick with her, he guessed, locked in her mind. That was the only time she ever spoke about her past but the other workers understood her a little better after that. But then, so did he.

His wings scraped the side of the berth lightly as he shifted beside her, curling his arms around her tiny waist a bit more. He leaned in to rest his helm against the side of her faceplate, glad she was in recharge so he could. After all this time he had nearly forgotten how small she was. He did remember the feeling of his servos resting on her hip as her chassis brushed against his, her surprise kiss catching him that night when he walked her home. She had to stand on the tips of her pedes to reach, but the kiss was so passionate it took his intakes a while to normalize. She had looked up at him with such a gentleness in her optics, saying his name softly and with more affection that he ever heard from her before.

His spark pulsed a bit at the memory as he shuttered his optics. Before, he told himself he walked her home to ensure she did not get lost in her drunken haze, but after, he mildly had to wonder if he really just wanted to be with her longer. When he first met her, he saw her unshakable exterior as a challenge. Her impervious reputation was something to be explored and weaknesses in it discovered. It started out as a game, but the more he had seen of her, the more he enjoyed her, even liked her. It had not taken him long to see that the emotionless front was nothing more than a mask covering up something more beautiful. Even then, he could see she was more than she let on, brilliant, and even funny if you took the time to listen. Until she kissed him though, he had not realized she felt anything for him.

By the next morning, when she came to work, the kiss was forgotten to her, but he remembered. That short kiss changed everything he thought about her before, it changed how he felt. Slowly, they became closer after that - No one moved fast with Angel. It took him a long time to find his way past her walls, but once he did, it was worth the trouble, as he knew it would be. No matter how she seemed to others, he knew who she really was. Interestingly enough, she had gotten to him too. He might have been good at pretending, but he had never trusted easily either. Just because he was good at acting did not mean he felt any connection. Angel was different though. They needed each other more than they knew back then. He was outspoken and outgoing, and she was reserved and shy. Together, they made a team. All of it changed when the war began... and then he lost her.

Her death, or what he thought was her death, pushed him to do things he never thought himself capable. After a while he did not even know himself. All he wanted was revenge but he never spoke of her or what happened again. If he never spoke of them he could pretend they were not real. He tried to forget all of those things, those painful things, and let them die in the darkness of his mind. Being with Megatron did not help much, it just made his hatred expand past the Autobots and on into the Decepticons. No matter where he went he could not escape the pain and the rage, though he tried many ways. Even killing Cliffjumper had not eased those feelings. He felt best when Megatron was 'dead' but even that was not quite enough.

He did need to ask her why, for Primus' sake, she never came back before now! Things might be different if-

Starscream pulled back to look at her when her intakes became irregular gaspings. The expression on her faceplate seemed pained as a whine escaped her. Her servos reflexively clutched at his arms for support, or perhaps comfort, as she began to writhe beneath him.


	3. Simple Regret

**Simple Regret **

All around were the sounds of life, city life. The rumble of the underground transport, fliers high over the rang of buildings, and normal pede traffic could be heard everywhere from the femme's position on the large balcony of her office building. Her big blue optics traveled over the streets below her, watching the lives of others from a distance, as always. Her coworkers were clanking behind her, beakers and tubes rattling with motion. She was taking a break from the business of work. Likely, she should have taken the time to drink some energon, but she was not in the mood. Often as not, she ignored the need until her systems began alerting her to the problem. Often as not, she was bad at remembering to maintain her systems. It was not that she did not intend to care for herself, she just had too many other things on her mind. When she finally looked up, the sky was turning swiftly darker, far more rapid than normal.

Her body stiffened when the familiar sounds behind her stopped. When she looked back, they were gone, the building dark and hollow looking. Her intakes hitches as her optics flashed back to the street to find it the same. Just what was happening? Why had everyone fled? Still, she did not panic, not yet. Instead, she took to the halls, searching for anyone that could inform her or give her an idea what was happening. She had to guess either something was wrong in the area, or the lab, or with her. The last was likely the best option but she did not know why she would be having trouble. Maybe something had spilled in her station and caused this hallucination.

Eventually, she found herself out of the building, but the more she walked, the less she knew. The buildings in the area were destroyed and mangled, eventually turning into nothing but brokenness. What really struck her was the feeling of death to this place. Cold, everything was cold like the chill of open space. The things around her were spinning lazily in circles - Broken a twisted metal of all shapes and sizes hovered in the air. The silence in this vast amount of emptiness was what really worried her. Her metal was cold and she shivered a bit as she moved through what she guessed to be Cybertron but most of the dead space was not familiar.

Skyfreeze jumped as a sudden scream crashed through the silence and into her audios, followed by multiple others. The screams were shrill and dripping with terror and agony. The ground nearly shook with the shattering sounds of carnage and breaking glass. Whatever was happening, someone was was in intense trouble. Compelled to find the source, she raced toward the noise, her metal band of wings shifting to attention at her back. Her pedes moved her swiftly past buildings and crumpled debris until she finally saw the source the the sounds. Ahead in a darkened building husk were three dark figures. The smallest of them was thrown suddenly to the ground. It could only be some sort of pit fight, but why it was being held here, she had no idea. The other two hovered over as the largest reached down to rip one of the little creatures arms out. Sparks flew as the appendage landed at Skyfreeze's feet, the shrieks of pain enough to make her drop protectively to one knee, shivering slightly. Had they seen her?

She stared as a second arm was pulled free and thrown aside. Readying herself, she rush forward silently, careful not to hit any of the scattered glass, wings charging for a double hit until-

"It's always a pleasure, Sky. I'm glad we could do business together." One of the mechs chuckled as he kicked the downed figure, pede seeming to nearly go through - That voice, she knew it from somewhere.

Her body locked when the second mech's set of red optics turned to stare at her, a smile full of sharpened denta glinting in the small amount of light, "Join us!"

She stepped back, shaking her helm wildly, "No! Stay away! I have nothing to offer you!" She yelled at him as he moved toward her, huge servos dripping with energon.

"Don't go, Skyfreeze, Starscream will miss you if you do." He sneered as he snatched her roughly by the wrist, motion faster than she expected from his large form. "Besides, you don't want to miss this!" His enormous tinted silver servos grabbed her helm and twisted her to look at the damaged body.

It screamed as the first reached down to snap off-

Skyfreeze lashed out at the gladiator as he held her, terror filling her as she saw bar like wings being ripped from the downed creature, suddenly realizing what she was seeing. The body being torn apart was her own, the screams she was hearing... Her servo shot to cover her spark protectively, optics wide and disbelieving. Was that horrific sound really her voice? The huge metal body pulled her against him as he dragged her toward the scene, a scene she knew she never wanted to watch. Her memory of that day was shattered but she remembered enough of it to know this was the last thing in the universe she wanted to see.

Megatron's thick voice rumbled against her as he spoke loudly enough to cover the sound of screaming, "You did not think you could get away from me, did you? I told you I would never let you betray me, remember?"

She stared, frozen as her body was ripped apart piece by piece. The sound of her own screaming deafened her as she wished it all away, no longer sure what was real anymore. The only coherent thought in her mind was wondering who the shadowy third figure was. She remembered Megatron, but where had the third figure come from? Had he ever been there, or was he part of this dream alone? Who helped Megatron? How had she ended up in a vacant place like this?

Her scream joined in with her dream self as pointed servos dug into her chassis. In a desperation, she thrashed to escape, terror melting away her thoughts as her own spark chamber was ripped open. The world was black for an instant before she saw Megatron grinning down at her, servos lightly stroking the wires around her spark. Her body convulsed violently as he drove a claw into the outer lining, the other mech moving in beside the giant. She felt every wire as he cut them, felt every rupture until she was an incoherent mess of pain. The second mech said something but it was too garbled to understand. Had he not torn out her vocalizer she would be screaming as those claws finally sunk in, shattering the delicate glass and parts of her spark, turning everything black.

* * *

"Angel! It's alright, I'm here!" A voice yelled, servos curled around hers.

As the femme's optics came online several figures came into view around her. Colors all around her; orange, blue, yellow, black, red, and silver. It took her a while to realize she was huddled in the corner of the room, curled into a ball like a sparkling. Exactly why was she on the floor? Why were Ratchet, Bumblebee, and Arcee crowded behind Starscream? All of them were staring at her as if she had two helms. As her optics traveled, she noticed that she was trembling, even with Starscream's steady servos holding onto her. What had she been doing?

She stiffened when her processor pulled up the dream and she realized in horror that she must have been reacting to it in recharge. Her pededs moved her into a standing position instantly, nearly causing her friend to fall backward. Just how much had she said? Did she scream, or worse, talk? For all of them to be here, it had to have been something extreme. Her fans were moving swiftly even though she felt cold. Had she talked about why she came here? She hoped to Primus she did not let that slip in front of all of them!

Feeling the need for distance, she swiftly danced past them, heading fast out the door. She did not even want to know what she did during recharge, did not want to know anything about it. Whatever she did, it would be better not to ask and she would not be answering questions either. For all she knew, she told them everything anyway, so leaving the all too close quarters was the best plan of action.

The sound of following pedes nearly made her drop into a sheer run just to escape the humiliation of it all, but she could control herself better than that. Running like a sparkling was out of the question after she seemed to have just shown all of her vulnerable side to the entire team. All but the Prime, Rookie, and the humans had been there, though she thanked the All Spark she was spared that much.

"Angel, wait!" The seeker was at her heels, moving around to her side, "What in the name of Primus was that?"

Skyfreeze said nothing, ignoring him as she continued walking.

"Are you in pain? Was it because of the repairs?" Came the medic's questioning behind her. "I can give you something if you need it."

"_Night terror_?" Bumblebee offered up.

"You were screaming loud enough to wake humans in China." The ever helpful Arcee shared her further bit of input.

The silver femme did not bother to stop or turn around, "I am fine, thank you. It was nothing."

Long servos grabbed her shoulder and spun her to face his red optics, "What happened? Tell me right now!"

She shrugged as if she was not bothered in the slightest, "A reaction to the drug, perhaps."

The seeker turned a glare to the others as they moved in, "You all have something to do, don't you? Always busy, correct?" He hooked his arm around her waist, "So why don't you all go do it and let me talk with her?"

They seemed miffed by the delivery of the request but saw no flaw in his logic. They were likely expecting that she would talk to him more easily than the rest of them, so they allowed it. For a change, she found herself glad of his blunt way of speaking and overall rude behavior. However, he had not left her alone yet. More than that, he had already started to drag her back to the room. When she resisted, she suddenly remembered how strong he could be when he wanted. It shocked her slightly at how easily he handled her attempt to twist away. There were few times he really forced her to do anything, and this looked like it was one of them.

"You will talk to me!" He stated as he shoved her inside the room, standing guard at the door.

"I thought I_ was_ talking to you." She stated rather blankly, having shown enough emotion already, she thought.

"Don't play games with me! Talk to me!" He frowned, though not his normal angry type of sneer, "I want to know what happened, what could upset you that way."

"I was offline, I don't remember." Her glowing blue optics moved to a spot on the wall.

"Don't you dare lie to me after you were just screaming in my arms most of the night." His slender pede stomped down on the floor for emphasis.

Normally, she would never indulge in such a joke, but she was desperate, "Starscream, that sounded terrible. You could have worded that better, honestly."

Not used to her making such perverse comments, he stared at her blankly before realization dawned and brought a bit of heat to his faceplate, "Angel! Stop trying to twist things around! I know what you're doing!"

She hummed in a questioning tone, "Doing what? I was only saying you should select your words with more care. Besides, I'm sure your 'most of the night' is an exaggeration. "

He moved forward, servos gripping her firmly, pushing her against the wall and pinning her, "You are not leaving until you talk to me," he stated flatly.

Talking about it was a bad idea. Reliving it once was more than enough for one day, more than she could handle, actually. Reliving the last moments before she was offlined did not rate high on her list of to-do's. Maybe she should tell him, but something in her could not allow it. She worried she might let more than she was allowed to speak of slip if she began. If she were free to speak as she wished, she might tell him, but things were different now. The orders and conditions were that she not tell too much about that time. Something about the dream or memory itself made her hesitate too, but she was not sure what it was.

No, she had to avoid this conversation, so she did the one thing she knew would distract him. The femme swiftly cupped the back of his helm in one servo, tugging him forward, her derma moving to cover his. His frame tensed instantly but he did not pull free. She slid her free servo up his side, letting it travel to the joints where his wings met his back in a torturously slow motion. The seam was easy to reach, the delicately hidden wires just as easy for small fingers. A soft rumble in his voicalizer, almost so soft she did not hear, let her know it was working. He was no fool, he knew what she was doing, but as her glossa slipped past his derma to invade his oral vents, he let her.

The speed of his fans increased a little as he relaxed into her touch. His glossa stroked hers as he explored her vent in return. When his servos moved to pull her close she knew it was time to escape before her exit was cut off by those arms. Being trapped, even with him, sent a cold hand of panic through her spinal strut. She was not ready to be held by anyone after that dream - Something about the idea made her metal crawl. Carefully, she broke the kiss, watching him unshutter his optics lazily to look at her. Her lithe form slide along the wall as she glided out of his reach, the door opening when she entered the sensor.

"I will be back. I have to do a few things" She gave him a sweet smile as she stepped past the door.

"You can be cruel at times, Sky, but do not think you have won." His voice dipped low as he watched her walk away, not moving to stop her.

* * *

"I want you to bring up anything you can on her, Soundwave." Megatron crooned in a contemplative tone. "If she so much as took a breath since I last saw her on Cybertron, I want to know."

The only response was the clicking of the keys as the slim, dark mech worked, not even bothering to turn his helm.

"I want to know how she managed to survive," His tone tipped into a growl, "but I want to know what she has been doing all this time! If she was not dead, where was she?"

It had been so long since he crushed her spark and ripped it from her chassis. How she managed to survive something like that was nothing short of a miracle, he should know! He knew for a fact, or he thought he did, that she was dead. What form of trickery had she used to stay alive? How had he missed that? You would think one of them should have noticed if her spark was still functioning! It was not possible that they missed it, yet, there she was!

What worried him more than that was the time. Even with all that damage it would not have taken her this long to heal, no one healed that slowly. So, where had she been keeping herself through this entire war? More than that, who had helped her do it? Who out there could revive her and hide her all at the same time? He had to know. Whatever was done, he had a feeling it would be of great use. Skyfreeze herself was of great use if he got his hands on her.

That weapon of hers could be more deadly than an army in his hands. Hiding her body away because he was in a hurry had been a bad idea. He should have taken those wings of hers and found out how to produce them himself. With those, he could walk into any fight and end it in a few minutes. Bots that could not move could not flee or get in his way. Battles could be swift and simple with those, if he could reproduce them.

Knowing what method revived her crushed spark would be of far better use though. For all he knew, he could raise his army with it and not need to worry about controlling them with Unicron's blood. If he could find him, he could stop Dreadwing's whining by reviving his twin too.

He needed that information! Shifting a bit in the giant chair, he seethed, hating the fact that he knew none of the answers he was seeking. Patients was not his virtue. If Soundwave could not get it, he would drag it out of her the hard way. Nothing would stop him!

"Sir!" A drone suddenly entered the bridge, "We have located her ship. Do you want to bring it aboard?"

His narrow red optics lingered thoughtfully on the drone before answering, "No, just keep an eye on it and see what we catch, for now."

* * *

Honestly, he should have stopped her. That display was more than a little obvious. Skyfreeze was many things, but a skilled liar or subtle was no such strength. He should have stopped her, like he said he would. After she pulled that though, he lost his resolve. Never, in all the time he had known her, had she kissed him in her sober moments. Every single time they came into contact of any kind, he was the one to initiate. She simply never took the lead, letting him be the one to move. Her making a move, well, that meant she truly was desperate. Whatever happened, she was not ready to speak about it, or could not speak about it.

He had no idea what could have happened to her while she was away, but to bring out such terror... Maybe he was not ready to know what brought out her emotions that strongly either. Maybe he did not really want to know what she was hiding any more than she wanted to talk about it. The thought frightened him. When it came to her, the thought of anyone harming her was enough to drive him mad. He had seen so much in the war, even done a lot, but he could not stand the thought that she had suffered - He knew she had, he had seen enough to know that. What he saw of what happened that day she vanished let him know far more than he wanted to.

The long, sharp servos curled into a fist, denta plates gritting hard enough to make a creaking sound. Even though he killed one of the bots he knew played a part in what he thought was her death, it had never been enough to ease his guilt. Too many questions had always been there. What if he had been there to protect her that day? What if he had joined Megatron before her attack? If only Megatron had been able to get to her faster once the information was found... they might have been able to stop it. Megatron's effort to save her was the one and only redeeming thing Starscream had found in him. At the time, it made him think the gladiator's spark was more in the right place than others said. The longer he knew the hulking creature though, the more he knew he only tried to save her because he found her useful. Red optics rolled upward at the thought. Pure intentions were never much a part of war.

The closest to pure intentions at the time had been the silent one. Soundwave showed him a few clips he salvaged from the surveillance in the area, which was how he knew one of the players in her fate that day. It did nothing to soothe his spark though. Knowing that he could have helped her was more than he could endure back then. He always thought that if only he had not been taken down and fallen into stasis lock when the Autobot raid happened, if he had gotten away fast enough, he could have been there to save Angel. His curved pedes turned him away from the door as he paced the small room. A slight growl was the only warning before he kicked one of the useless bits of junk in his room in anger. Even though he had not seen everything himself, he knew that when he came back online, everything in his life was gone. First, everything they had worked on in the lab, the entire lab itself, his co-workers, and then Angel was taken. Only he survived that day, but for what reason, he always wondered. With everything gone, he had no reason to live, nothing but revenge. With everything gone, what was he supposed to go back to? There was only one option open to him since he would never side with Angel's killers.

All he really remembered clearly from that day was waking in Kaon in a medical bay filled with several of his co-workers and a few drones, all dead. Energon stains covered the floors around them, white sheets used to cover the dead lightly tossed over their still forms. He had some damage, but he was alive, unlike them. It had been so confusing considering the last he knew, he had been leaning over Angel's shoulder in the lab, watching her careful fingers dipping metal into a newly created substance. He shot up off the medical table and searched for her but all he found were the shattered forms of other 'bots he knew from work. It had been his first taste of seeing mass death, though far from his last. There had been a few times he was in battles before, along side Angel. They had been trapped between the two sides and they could either die, or move. They got out alive and well, but the difference was Angel, she never killed. They always walked out without killing either side, or at least, only a few. But Angel, the one who created a weapon that would do nor harm, she was the one they hunted.

The saddest part, he always thought, was that it was for nothing. Rumors had gone around that his department was working on weapons, but that was a lie. Angel created her wings, but those were on her own time, and something that did no harm could hardly be called a weapon. What the department had really been doing at the end was trying to find ways to repair the injured faster, a chemical that would speed healing time. Word had spread that Megatron had recruited his department and Angel, but that had also been a lie. At that time, neither he nor Angel had chosen a side. Megatron may have been trying but they just did not want to commit. Or maybe it was more that Angel did not want to cast her loyalty with either side, and he followed her lead. None of them wanted to fight, they were just scientist, for Primus sake. They all wanted to save lives, not take them. If anything, most of the departments sympathy fell to the Autobots side, not Decepicons. Why they had to hunt them down, he did not know. There was no reason!

"Starscream." The rookie's voice was far more cheery than he had any right to sound when entering another's room without permission. "Optimus would like a word, if you don't mind coming with me?"

"Of course, why should I mind?" The low rasp in his vocalizer said otherwise but he linked his servos behind his back meekly. "It's not like I have anything better to do."

* * *

Slowly, she entered the ship she had spent so much time on. Since she had been a little off on the coordinates she gave Ratchet it was a bit of a walk to get here. Quietly, she moved in deeper, optics scanning everything as she went. Her time away from the ship had only been a day, or maybe a little more, but entering it again already felt strange. It was so small, but it had been her only home for more time than she wanted to think about. The power was off to keep it hidden, so it was dark as pitch inside, making it seem hollow and lifeless. It had occurred to her that someone could be hiding inside in the darkness, but nothing seemed to have been disturbed outside. Had she not know this place better, she would have tripped on the layered flooring alone. A sudden clang behind her told her the tag-along had done just that, but she was polite enough not to look. The other femme growled as she moved in beside her, likely deeming it the only safe way to navigate. Arcee was not that bad once given a little time to adjust. That might have been why Optimus insisted she not go alone, and sent Arcee.

"What are we here for anyway?" Arcee's tone seemed more irritated than normal but Skyfreeze put it to having likely hit her helm on something a second ago.

"Several things." Reluctantly, she flipped on a power switch to one side of the ship, dull green lights flickering on, "But we cannot stay here long now that the power is online again." She glanced at Arcee, motioning toward the computer area, "If you would not mind, you could dismantle that while I do this."

"You want to take all of this stuff with you?" An optic ridge arched, making the green lights dance over her faceplate.

"No, just one part of it." She leaned her upper body over, tapping one spot where part of the ship memory was kept, "Just that."

Arcee's shoulder struts stretched back as if to ready herself, "Alright, I can get it." She dropped to the floor and began to work without further questioning.

Skyfreeze set her attention to her task, opening all her little hiding places on the ship. It was unfortunate she had to turn on the power, but she could not get to most of these things without the power. She had to be able to open things. In case she was ever found by unwanted parties, she had hidden things in any place they could fit. There were microchips storing old formulas from Cybertron, a few inventions she created while on the ship, sound bites she intercepted from unknown sources, but most of all, she had to get ships power core. While the data was highly important to her, storing all her old works including the information to her wings and her labs final works, the power core was more important. This one was no normal powering system, it was one she discovered in her travels. This object alone should be enough to earn her a place in the Autobot world.

"By the way, Arcee, what was that relic we picked up?" While she already knew, it was something to break the silence.

There was a pause in the sounds of metal work, "Oh, I forgot you were not there when Optimus opened it." Her voice raised as she resumed her work, "As far as we know, it is a device like our T-cogs. It can scan an object and become whatever that object is until you tell it to shift into something else. It can take the place of about anything, and function as that part for any amount of time." The blue femme chuckled a little, "I'm not good at explaining this, but it sounds like an interesting toy."

Skyfreeze hummed in approval, "That does sound interesting!"

"Yeah, should be a good thing for us." There was a crunching sound as the computer finally came free from the console, "You finished, because I got this thing out."

After tapping a few buttons, the silver femme nodded, "We need to leave."

Her trinkets were all in hand now, so this ship was of no use at all anymore. It served a good purpose while it lasted, but now it would just be in the way, in too many ways. It could not have lasted much longer in space anyway. There was a lot of damage to it she had simply been giving small repairs to, just prolonging its death until she could get to earth. Skyfreeze swiftly lead Arcee outside where she called Ratchet for a bridge. While she had not told Arcee, she set the ship to explode. There was no reason to leave behind something that Soundwave, or even humans might get at. It was best to destroy it since it would not last through another long trip into space. Besides, she was ordered to destroy it when she reached earth.

The light from outside hit her optics hard, nearly blinding her. The ship was so dark and the sun was so bright it nearly made her glitch. A second after her sight adjusted though, she wished they were glitching. Arcee moved up beside her, hard drive in hand, but weapon drawn in the other. The two of them must have looked small right now, considering Dreadwing, Knockout, and a good number of Drones were all at the door.

Skyfreeze twitched visibly, her processor already calculating all the potential ways this was going to end horribly. Granted, she gave herself and Arcee time to escape before the explosion, but she had not been counting on this complication. None of this was in her plans. Even with the power being turned on, she did not expect Soundwave to find it this quickly. How had he?

"Well, well..." Knockout crossed his servos over his chest, smooth voice hitting their audio like silk running over metal, "Look what we have here! Two Autobot femme's for the price of one." His faceplate curved with his smirk, "Must be our_ lucky_ day!"

"Scrap..." Arcee muttered quietly, her face twisting with anger.

"You have no idea..." Skyfreeze whispered.

**AN: Oh, and so you know, I put that rating on it because of future chapters. Granted, I'm not there yet, or at least I don't consider any of this that bad in violence or any of it, but it is up to let you know. I've always thought Megatron was crazy from all his time in the pit and dark energon...and that he would be a terrifying enemy, so I'm going to try to show that. I also thought that Starscream's mess of loyalty was interesting and I always thought it had to be tied to his past. No one gets that twisted for no reason.**

**But I really hope you are enjoying the story so far, there are twists and turns to come that I hope you like as well. Angel is kinda strange, but I hope you like her too. ^.^**


	4. Red

**Red**

Staring into the red glow of the charged guns was not an expected exit. Arcee was far less panicked by this development than Skyfreeze, but that was only because she did not know the ship behind them was about to make a very big impression on all of them. The self destruct would happen in about five of the human minutes. Worse was that a bridge should be opening soon and Ratchet did not know there was trouble. Unless Arcee managed to alert him, not only were they trapped beside a bomb, but that explosion had a good chance of blowing through the bridge too.

"Stand down!" The bulky blue mech ordered, optics glued to Arcee and her blaster.

It took a clear bit of turning gears in her processor to decide, but Arcee finally complied, her blaster folding away.

Even if Arcee had alerted Ratchet to the problem, that would only bring more bots into danger. Having them come was even worse than if it was only herself and Arcee caught in the blast. She hoped that only the bridge opened, and no one came out.

If they could just get to the bridge when it opened before the bomb went off they might have a chance. They did, however, have to do that before getting shot. With the group nearly surrounding them, that was going to be difficult to do. What was more, she did not want to have to drop all her work out here! Leaving it for them was not an option, not at all. She would rather it be destroyed than taken.

"Hands up, and get down on your knees!" Dreadwing's thickly harsh vocalizer barked the order far more loudly than needed for as close as he was.

Knockout made a clicking sound at Sky, shaking a scolding servo, "And don't even think about bringing those cute little wings up! We know all about those." He paused, casting a quick glance at Dreadwing, "Some of us more intimately than others."

_One minute and thirty seconds_, she mentally counted.

Skyfreeze forced a slight smile, "Alright, you have no need of asking me twice, boys." Grudgingly, she dropped everything she was holding into the sandy surface under her pedes.

She could not load her wings before they began shooting, that was clear. Fortunately, she had a few tricks left that they clearly did not know about. Even on Cybertron, she only used them a hand full of times, so they had no reason to know. Sadly for them, they simply underestimated her. Very slowly, Skyfreeze raised her servos, palms up, easing herself to the ground with care, never taking her optics from the mechs. Arcee was not as willing to obey, standing her ground to glare at them, but for once, Skyfreeze was glad for her stubborn nature. This would go more smoothly with the blue femme on her feet. She had not grown up with her Sire without understanding that you had to keep something hidden at all times, be those emotions, or an escape plan. You had to be five steps ahead, calculating all that could ever go wrong, even the wild cards you might be thrown. If you really wanted to live, you had to be ten steps ahead. She did not have ten, she had one, but that would be enough for the moment. The sound would be her greatest issue to contend with.

Knockout's eyes were drawn away when the green swirl of an opening bridge appeared a klick or so behind the ship, "Oh, I don't think you will be making your ride, sweet sparks, since you are with us now... but maybe we should let them know." He grinned at them, signaling a few of the Vehicons to move on the bridge.

With only the slightest click to indicate pending action, Skyfreeze smirked at the two generals, the cover over the single eyelets in her palms having slid away, "I am sorry to inform you, but we already have dates for the day... so we must decline your offer."

_Two minutes even._

The red mech's eyes snapped to her when the sound of charging hit his audio. Dreadwing's optics widened slightly, staring instantly at her wings, seeming confused that there was no charge in them, but his tell for firing was already twitching. It was so clear what they were asking themselves, even as Dreadwing fired. They both knew Arcee did not have her blasters out, so where-

Her body fell to the side as both her palms were alight with the white blast that crashed into both lead mechs. She toppled into Arcee as she fell out of the way, Dreadwing's blast only missing her helm by a fraction of a second - She felt the burn of it pass. All that saved her was that she already began her fall when he fired, thank Primus, making the blast miss while hers hit. She knew the sound of her charge would be enough to make Dreadwing fire, even if he had yet to know where the blast was coming from, so she moved before he could. At least all her Sire's teaching was good for something. There was no way to hide that sound, but it would have been worse if she had been forced to bring her wings up as well. If that was her only method of attack, she would have died on this spot.

Even though she hit Arcee, throwing her off balance, it turned out to be a good thing. The Vehicon nearest Knockout let a blast fly for the blue femme, and it only just missed her. For once, the silver femme was glad she hit someone. Tucking the computer piece under her arm, Arcee pulled out her blasters, rapidly showering the others with blue. Already on the move, Arcee's target was clear - Stop the Vehicons from getting through the bridge. Skyfreeze was already working to pick up her items, a hard task while being shot at and bringing her wings up at the same time. Even in this situation, her processor took the time to muse on the fact that she saved the other femme. Accident or not, she would take good fortune where it came. There were so few happy accidents in life. Though, she would pretend later that it was fully intentional. No one needed to know she saved the other by simple clumsiness.

"Three minutes, thirty-five seconds!" Skyfreeze called to Arcee as she let a shower of white blasts free from her wings.

"Until what?" Arcee shouted back at her, edging her way toward the bridge as she fired at the Vehicons closest to the glowing mass.

Already, she had forgotten the other femme was not in on the count, so she did not bother to answer. Not to mention, she was a little busy just now. Vehicons were showering her in their own little light show as they hid themselves behind the two large frozen generals and the other immobile members of their group. They were learning! Perhaps they had seen or been told about the last fight she had been in with them. Her blasts were only making contact with a few of the active Vehicons, the majority simply hitting the already frozen ones to do nothing. She had been forced back behind a wing of the ship, but that only provided so much cover. She was taking hits, even though she was trying hard to dodge them.

Granted, these computer chips were small, and her other items were small, but that made them harder to pick up while dodging red blasts. Grudgingly, she had to take note that her newly repaired leg had just been damaged again, and in nearly the same place. Her helm rested against the cold metal of the ship wing, taking a long drag of air through her vents in exasperation. This was a rather hard thing to do while avoiding being shot. However, she was not about to leave her work to them. She could not take the chance it would not be destroyed in the blast. In as swift and fluid a motion as she could with the injury, she dove for the last item, only just catching hold of it before she took a long dive closer to the bridge.

In desperation, she held up the power core, positioning the sphere in front of her. Not only was it the largest of her items, it was also her only chance at getting away. Its special skill was what she needed most right now. A red blast hit the clear looking sphere almost the second she held it up, suddenly lighting it with red. It had done its job, and did it several more times in repetition as she moved for the bridge - It was swallowing the power of those blasts. Holding it in its active form meant she herself could not use her blasts, but there was nothing else she could do. The strength of the blasts impact pushed her down, heavy with the force of them, but she pushed forward. There really was not time to stop and worry over pain even though she could feel the burn of another hit to her lower body. She could sit here and cry, or force herself to move and escape. The sphere was glowing now, glowing a violent red, even making her servos glow with the color.

_Four minutes, thirty-four seconds._

"Skyfreeze!" Arcee yelled to her, beginning to advance back toward her - She obviously could see the other femme was in trouble.

"No, Arcee! Get to the bridge! It's going to explode any second!" She yelled back, more than loudly enough for the Vehicons to hear, which was what she wanted - She knew what they would assume she meant.

The blasts came to a pause as the closest ones to her backed away a bit, eyeing the object in her servos. Its threatening red glow was obviously worrying them. There was no reason they had to know it was the ship, and not the orb that was going to explode. A few were already grabbing the generals to drag them out of the danger zone, though why they bothered to save them, she would never know. Blue blasts began to fire their way, scattering them as they tried to evade. Skyfreeze knew what those blasts meant - They meant Arcee had yet to leave. Did Autobots never listen to anything she said? Though, she really had no time to be annoyed over that issue. Without dropping the sphere away, she raced for the bridge, though not turning her back to them or turning the orb away. Good thing she actually _could_ run backwards considering she did not want to paint a target to her unprotected back. The closer she got, the more they began to shoot at her again, but she did not pause to see how many hit her and how many hit the orb.

_Five seconds._

Finally turning, she made a purpose driven dive, Arcee grabbing her as they both toppled into the bridge opening. That stubborn femme had not left like she was supposed to. Even so, they were both flying back into the bridge, into safety. The blast, however, would follow them in, which would have a rather poor outcome. The two femme's skidded along the ground with a loud shrieking of metal as they both slid in as harsh a landing as it could get thanks to the force from outside. The blast had gone off, she both heard and felt the initial burst give them a shove as they came in, nearly turning them into a rocket. The two nearly crashed into the computer area, only missing it by a fraction, hitting the wall instead. A large piece of the ship flew past them, embedding itself in the metal stairs the children used to get to the Autobot's level.

The flying shrapnel hit another wall, fire visibly lapping at the opening of the bridge. No one had to tell Ratchet to close the bridge, it shut down fast with a dull hum before going silent. The medic was quick to move for them, optics already assessing them madly. Arcee rather swiftly untangled herself and stood to face Ratchet. It was hard to tell how badly she was hurt considering how stubborn she was. There were some very clear scratches from this landing alone, but there had to be more than that. Skyfreeze would have been on her feet as well, but she discovered that was easier said than done. Her legs seemed to have no desire to work with her. Instead, she simply sat up, gathering her items together, taking inventory to be sure she got everything. She was hoping if she gave herself a minute, she could stand without too much trouble.

"What happened?" Ratchet was swift to question, worry hidden under a sheet of anger, but not too well.

"The 'Cons were outside the ship when we exited. I'd already called for the bridge before I knew they were there. Didn't have time to give you an update on the situation." Arcee explained rather calmly, if not with her usual attitude.

"Skyangel." Came the smooth and even toned, though urgent sort of summoning of the Prime as he walked out of one of the halls. He had never called her by that one before but she hardly noticed just now. "What happened?"

Her optics took note of a rather overly worried looking seeker following on the Prime's heels and she chuckled nervously in waiting for her old friends reaction, "Slight complication, Sir. It was nothing extreme though."

"The 'Cons jumped us while we were out." Arcee put in for Optimus, servos crossing over her chassis, "From what I gathered, they planned on taking us in."

"_What_ was that **_explosion_**?" Ratchet waved a rather angry servo in the direction of the large chunk of metal sticking out of the stairs, then waving at the black scorch marks on the bridge, "Do you know how delicate that is?" He indeed yelling by now.

Arcee turned her optics down to the other femme, clearly expecting her to answer that one even if she might have guessed what happened herself.

"Ah..." Again, she took a lesson for Starscream in his manner of escaping trouble, "When I saw we were surrounded... I thought we might need a distraction in order to escape." She paused, turning her eyes to the floor to avoid looking at the Prime while she was telling lies, "I gave it the order to self destruct. I gave us time to get away though, I assure you, considering we are both here."

There was only so much honesty she could offer up. It was not as if she could tell them that her ship had to be destroyed. She could not really say that she had already taken more from it than she was supposed to. Though it was in poor condition, useless, she could not say that the information still inside it had to be destroyed so neither Autobot nor Decepticons could get at it. Destroying it was the main reason she went back to it, but she could not say how the Decepticon arrival had simply complicated that plan. She would have destroyed it the minute she stepped off, but she had been afraid to just in case the Autobots rejected her. It was her last backup plan for getting away again, even if it could not have traveled very far. She had not even planned on them knowing she was the one to destroy her own ship. No, she could really not say that to him.

"Oh..." She held the glowing red orb up to him, "And here! I brought this back for you." At last, she found the strength to stand, driven by the fact the the Prime was staring at her while she sat on the floor like a sparkling - It was amazing what humiliation could do to get a person past pain.

"Skyangel, that was a dangerous move, endangering both your life and Arcee's." The way he stared at her made her nearly shrink to the floor again, "Need I tell you that we cannot afford such risks to the lives of our team?"

She shook her helm from side to side as her only answer, though she continued to hold the orb out.

For a minute, he ignored her offered up object to stare at her in that scolding way of his, but he finally reached down to take it from her, "What is this?"

"It is an item I found during my travels. I used it as a power core when mine was rendered useless. It takes in and stores any energy that is given to it... such as the blasts from the Vehicon guns it has right now." She allowed her optics to meet his as she spoke, "Given a bit more power, I think it could replace energon use in the base. That would free up energon for other more vital things." She took a step and instantly regretted it, but tried desperately not to show how the burning pain hit, "Since I used it on my ship, I believe you could also use it here with just as much effectiveness."

The majority of his response to her words was to hand the orb over to Ratchet, his optics returning to level her right back into the ground like a parent to a child.

About now she very nearly hoped Starscream would say something, but he was as quiet as she had ever seen him. Of course.

"Your injuries need attending." His deep voice rumbled as he stared at her, "You will report to Ratchet for repairs. After that, we can discuss the orb."

"Yes, Sir." Skyfreeze lowered her helm to indicate submission, not daring to watch him leave the room.

This would have gone so much more easily if the Decepticons had simply stayed away! She could have killed them just now. Her plan would have gone off perfectly with no angry leader to deal with, or as angry as Optimus ever got. The evidence would have been destroyed and she would be free of it all. Why could it not have gone that simply? The Autobots never seemed to catch a break and it was looking like that was rubbing off on her. She could not count the times in the records she had seen them with as near to flawless planning as it got, but things inevitably went wrong. It never failed! Why could nothing go as planned and be simple for a change? It was likely the most frustrating thing she had ever been a part of.

Earning her place with them was not going terribly well with all of this. Everything she had done to take herself out of debt to them and make herself seem of value had backfired. She was ending up looking more like a liability and failure than anything, a hopeless case. She could not believe how badly this was going when it should all have come off perfectly, as planned.

While she could not have been happier to see Starscream upon arrival, even that was horrifically poor timing, not to mention off the course of plans. Had he been captured just a bit later in the time line, it would have been fine, but no, he was here to ruin her credibility from day one. Her optics fell on him as he stood in silence, staring at her as if he was thinking a little too hard over something. She did not really take it into consideration as she worked over her own thoughts, frustration boiling inside her. He could just say on his side of the room, his side of the base, for all she cared at present.

Making a sharp turn, she began to walk toward one of the rooms she knew to be a storage room, like Starscream's dwellings. She needed some space, away from all of them before she made some sort of emotional outburst to make everything a hundred times worse.

"Optimus said you have to come in for repares." Arcee instantly prompted the other femme when it was clear she was making a run for it, even if she was walking poorly.

"Later." Skyfreeze gave a short reply to hide any of the things she could have retorted as well as to hide how strangled her voice was from the suppressed pain of walking.

The medic moved forward, seeming intent on blocking his would-be patient, "I need to take a look at you, like it or not." His voice was stern and demanding, like the old model he was.

Pausing, she cast a glance over her shoulder, "I will report as ordered... after I have ensured the integrity of my data cards is still intact."

Ratchet moved in beside her, "That would be unwise." He gave her a swift sweep with his optics, "You do not appear to have gotten away as well as Arcee. You need to be checked now."

It took everything in her not to react to that. Being reminded of how badly her day had already gone, even though it was likely only around noon in human time, this was about the last thing she cared to hear. Yesterday was bad, but today might have been worse. Being compared to Arcee was yet another blow she did not have the endurance for. The indication of inferiority was obvious, at least to her. Currently, she already felt foolish enough and she was not prepared for the medics skill for constantly insulting her in the most effective manner possible to annoy her.

"Remind me," Her optics narrowed as she locked hers with his, staring him down as directly as she could considering he was taller then she was, "why exactly it should matter to you what condition I decide to remain in?"

His chassis extended, puffing up a bit in what she could only guess to be indignation, "Because I am a medic and Optimus ordered that you report to me for care."

The femme vented a little air, allowing a rare, but bitter smirk to touch her faceplate, "In other words, you do it because you were order to. Pride in your profession, not because it matters to you."

Just now, she had no tolerance for this. At this rate, she would never be part of the team. Her staying here was a simple matter of mercy on the part of the Prime. Being here was not a matter of what she was contributing, but simply because they had to keep her. Again, she turned to move out of their sight, not intent on listening. She did not need anyone to pity her, she never had any use for that. If she could not earn her place, she did not want anything from them. Caring for herself was good enough. If it were in her power to decide, she would leave until she earned the right to come back again. Of course, it never seemed to be up to her.

"After I have examined the things from my ship, I will report to you, Ratchet." She tipped her helm as if to say thank you before moving ahead again.

Under his breath, Ratchet began muttering, "Stubborn as a human... Why am I always dealing with this kind of thing? Optimus has no idea what I put up with."

* * *

As she searched through the room for any suitable items she could use, she had to chuckle slightly. If that medic knew her, he would have understood what she really said. She never once agreed to let him touch her, she strictly agreed to report to him. Anyone that knew her knew that how she stated something made a huge difference. She was not in the mood to argue over it, and she no longer cared if the Prime scolded her. If the repairs were done, it did not matter who did them. The medic had enough to keep him busy with the green mech anyway. As to the repairs, if she could not earn her place, she would not allow his help. She would simply do things herself and not worry about it.

Pulling up a bit of scrap metal, she dragged it and herself over to the table. Carefully, she perched there, moving her pede up onto the table with her. She had already fixed the wiring so all she needed to do was patch the gaping hole, which she could do with this spar bit of metal she found. It might not be perfect, but with a bit of pounding and polishing, no one would see the difference. It was lucky for her that there was a welding tool in this room since she could not really manage without one. It was a rather poor quality tool, but she could get it to work.

The torch flicked on, the tip turning red with the heat of the low flame. She took a few drags of air through her vents to steady herself, mentally reminding herself that pain was simply a form of protection in her processor, nothing but a mental issue. Pain was not real, it was just a protective issue the body had. It was nothing to pay any attention to. Her denta ground together as she set to work, her fans were kicking up to cool her. She worked as quickly as she could while still ensuring the heated metal would form together correctly. The longer she worked, the harder her fans had to work. It would have been nice if the pain lessened with time exposed, but she was not that lucky.

The sudden urge to purge her tanks forced her to pause. To say it was painful was a rather large understatement. It felt like acid working through her system, eating every part of her away, at least the lower part. Being shot was painful enough, but the time it took to put the repair piece on might have been worse. The only comfort was that she was doing quite a good job with it. The weld marks were minimal and she did not see any bubbling. She did not know how anyone could endure this without a change or even twitch in their faceplate. She had seen many that could, seeming as if this kind of work was nothing. They were braver than she was, maybe, to take it so well. It was deceptive, perhaps even a flat lie to act that stoic with liquid fire playing at every section.

Her servos were shaking a little, but she forced herself to begin again. If others could endure it without any trouble, so could she! She was no less than they were and she had as much skill to do this as any medic, she was sure. Touching it to her metal again drew a jump from her as the fresh pain hit, but she ignored it. This was good practice. If she could be emotion and reaction free here, she could do it anywhere.

It took some time, but she finally finished that horrible task to her satisfaction. There were a few other areas that had to be welded back into place but they did not require a whole new piece of metal, thank Primus. Most of it was just a matter of bending pieces back to be resealed. To say everything was superficial would be a lie, but that is what she would tell the medic later. There were a lot of things, such as wire damage, that she encountered, but she could fix them. What she could not fix herself would eventually heal on its own with what she had already done. Everything would be fine this way and she would not have to answer to anyone for this, no one needed to be repaid for it. Though, there were a few places on her back that she might be forced to allow him to work on simply because she could not get to them.

The sound of the door readying to open kicked her into a fast motion to turn off the torch and hide it, trying to strike an innocent pose as the door opened.

Starscream did not wait to be invited in, he simply marched ahead, arms folded neatly behind him.

"Starscream." She forced a smile onto her faceplate, tilting her helm in greeting, "Did you need something?"

Wordlessly, he marched toward her and over to the side of the table where she was letting the tools hang out of sight of the doorway, "Doing your own repairs in here, by chance?" He asked, eyeing the cords and various items hidden behind her.

"Oh, no, I was working with my data." She kept her voice even as she could in hopes of avoiding his notice.

Again, he moved to another table across from her before speaking, "Really?" He lifted one of the chips from the table, turning it over in his servos, "Don't you typically need these for that?" Red optics cast her a look of knowing, as if speaking with that look about how easy she was to catch in a lie, "You forget... they might not know you, but I do."

Turning her helm away to stare at a wall farthest from him, she spoke without hiding the edge of irritation in her vocalizer, "If that is true, why did you not simply tell them? Why did you give me time to do what I please?"

His voice dipped low for emphasis, "I did because I know you." A slight chuckle escaped his vocalizer as he examined her with his optics, "Had I informed on you, someone would have ended up without a helm. You looked angry enough to strike down even the Prime... so I gave you some time to cool. I expected you might be more meek by the time you had done a bit of self repair."

She gave him nothing but silence, not even bothering to look at him.

Slowly, he eased in to sit beside her, cupping her chin in his servos to turn her face to him, "Need a little help?"

He did not wait for an answer before placing a moist cloth to the side of her helm where Dreadwing's blast nearly caught her. She guessed it had left scorch marks there since he went right to it. For a moment, she questioned where he had gotten the cloth but she had a feeling he must have brought it in with him. Her optics shuttered as she leaned into his touch, glad of his company. He was right, all those self repairs had mellowed her considerably if not simply because they had worn her down. She let him clean away the marks, gentle servos working with more carefulness than most thought him capable. It did sting a little, so there must have been a bit more damage than she thought, but clearly nothing extensive.

He moved to clean other places but she pushed the cloth away, leaning her helm against his shoulder strut instead. Earlier in the day, the thought of being held struck her with terror, but now it was all she really wanted. These were arms she knew so well, ones that had always given her the comfort she needed in the past. Always, he had been the only one that made the effort to be near her even when she pushed him away. He was the only one in this world, or any other, that she ever felt safe with. In the time they had known each other he had never told her even one thing about his past, but his past or present never mattered to her - It still did not matter. The records were just that, a bunch of files, and she did not care about them. The mech with her now was the only one she had ever known, the only one that mattered, her best friend.

She moved closer, slipping her faceplate into his neck, wordlessly begging him to hold her. She needed him, he had no idea how much. Her body nearly melted as he pulled her flush against him, his arms circling her like a castle of protection. The simple act made her feel like the world could move forward in something less than utter disaster. The pain and aches all over her frame eased, forgotten. At this moment it would have been easy for her to slip into recharge, the peace she felt more than enough to calm her.

"Angel," Starscream's voice was soft and smooth as he spoke, "don't you ever get tired of being so impervious?" One of his servos lightly stroked her spinal strut while the other held her in place against him, "It's alright, you know, not to be so perfect."

She did not give him an answer, simply staying immobile in his hold. He did not really understand what such a question meant to her. There was no way he could know that she simply had no way of coming close to an answer. Everything in her life now and in her life before said no. Such thoughts were not allowed under any circumstance.

Be faster, be better, be smarter, be stronger, be ahead of absolutely everyone else - That was all she had ever heard in her life. It was not good enough to be good, she had to be the best, though not just at some things, at everything. Less than perfection was not acceptable. All her life, she wore herself out to be better than every other femme and mech out there. As a femme herself, she knew she was considered weak and likely thought less intelligent then the mechs - That was just the way of it. No femme was supposed to be as good as a mech, which was fine, except for her. Often, mechs were stronger, at the very least. They were bigger and had more power than the femmes normally did. Skyfreeze knew that well enough. However, there were ways to get around size and bulk. Arcee was a prime example of how to use a smaller size combined with speed to bring down someone larger.

She needed better than that though. Everything in her told her she had to be better than even Arcee was. She had to! She had to be as knowledgeable as Ratchet, as agile as Arcee, as resourceful as Bumblebee, as strong as Bulkhead, as cunning as Starscream, as inventive as Smokescreen, and as wise as Optimus. And that was only the bots in the base. If she expanded her rules, she needed to be as observant, skilled, and brilliant as Soundwave. The other 'cons... she could not think of anything about them she cared to emulate... but if she thought of anything, she would need to add it to the list. Their uncanny good luck was about the only positive thing she would wish to have about that group.

Her optics fell to the floor as she thought it all over, her frame sagging a bit under the feel of the self imposed weight of them on her. Honestly, trying to live up to and exceed everyone was... it was exhausting. There was always someone she had to live up to no matter what she did. Someone was always better than she was at something, always pushing her to master something else. Knowing how to do some things was not enough, she had to know everything.

Sometimes, she just wanted to be tired. Sometimes she just wanted to give up and be done with it all. Of course, there were a few too many reasons she could not give up. She knew perfectly well she had no choice. She was raised for this. Her optics went offline for a minute as she leaned her helm back to rest against his arm, not caring if this position was uncomfortable. There was no choices open to her but she did not want to do this anymore, she _wa_s tired. Humans called what she was feeling 'stress' or 'anxiety' attacks, she believed.

Not that she was allowed to have one of those because she was not supposed to feel anything.

Starscream broke into her foolishness suddenly, drawing her optics up to his, "Angel, I need to ask you a few things."

Her helm rolled to the side as she rested against him, optics falling away from his to focus on his neck cables, "I know what you want to ask, but it was only a dream. It really does not matter. It's not important."

He shook his helm to cut off her gushing of reasons why it did not matter, "Not that. I need to talk with you about something else." There was a pause of hesitation as if he was deliberating over how to begin, "I... some things have come to light and I need you to tell me if they are true."

Her optics widened, her spark clenching in her chest with fear, "Oh?" She asked innocently, terror nearly driving her up the walls of the room already as she considered what information he could be talking about. "What could be so important that you can't just ask me directly like you always do? Why are you treading so carefully, Starscream?"

His faceplate rested against hers as he tightened his grip on her, "Because, I am having trouble understanding the information myself. I don't think it could be true, but if it is... I need you to explain it."

It was all she could do to keep from shaking and keep her fans from cycling rapidly. What did he know? Who talked to him? Where did the information come from? Could it have been why he was with Optimus when she returned? How much did the Prime really know about her? Fear was pulsing through her cords as she sat still in his embrace, dreading the next words out of him. Whatever he was going to say, she was not going to want to answer. No matter what he had found out, it was not going to be good news. She could tell it bothered him simply by his hesitation. That hesitation must have been the other reason he had not come in right away. If he knew she was going to be doing her own repairs, he normally would have come with her to assist, but he stayed away.

The sound of the door reached her audio again along with a familiar feminine voice, "Are you serious? Do you two get lovey-dovey every single time you are behind closed doors?" Miko sighed and looked at Jack as if he should understand, "This is worse than my host parents on valentines day."

Jack smirked and shrugged his shoulders, "Makes you wonder how bad they were when they were younger, doesn't it?"

Rather swiftly, she and the seeker moved to opposite ends of the table, as if that would fix everything - Both their faceplates were heating slightly this time.

Arcee cocked her hip to one side, seeming a little like Miko for that moment, "Are we talking about Miko's host parents, or the love bots, Jack?" The femme's optic ridge was turned up playfully as she eyed Skyfreeze. "Anyway, Ratchet is doing some work on Bulkhead, so he 'requests' that you report to him now so he can get both 'bots done at the same time."

With a nod, Skyfreeze slid off the table, "Of course. Right away." She slipped past the group outside the door, humiliated, but secretly thankful for the intrusion.

Even this was preferable to continuing the conversation with Starscream. This way, she would have a little time to consider his potential questions and mentally prepare for her potential answers. She would not have done well had the conversation continued in that unprompted manner. Her answers would have been far too honest and transparent without the proper time to think them over. This little bit of warning was just what she needed to steady herself for later. Later, it might not be Starscream alone asking questions if she was correct about where the information originated.

Miko slid into step with her suddenly, even if the human had a lot more steps to take than she did, "So, is it true that you exploded the 'Cons using your own ship?" Her enthusiasm was more than a little obvious. "How many do you think it took out?"

Her optics turned down to the girl, giving her a slight smile. Humans got her to smile more often than 'bots did. They seemed so much like sparklings that she could not help but be as nice with them as she could. Given some time, she could really enjoy humans. Of course, she might not have that much time, it was hard to say just yet.


	5. Shift

**Shift**

While she submitted to the rest of her repairs with less than an enthusiastic attitude, Ratchet was a fast worker. Thanks to Starscream, she was far more mellow now than she had been, both because of his simple presence and because of his sobering question dropped on her seconds before the interruption. For now, the medics commentary was a nice distraction for that. Starscream was lingering back on the fringe of things, searing red optics observing every move she made, Smokescrean as his talkative shadow. There were quite a few comments made about her self repairs but Ratchet did not seem to be too worried. It helped that the medic had someone else to take up most of his attention. The hulking green mech was still in rather poor shape, she could not help noticing. It seemed that his legs were the main problem. He could walk, but not far, and not well. Walking was laborious and in that condition it was clear he would not be able to hold his own in a fight.

Skyfreeze flinched suddenly as Ratchet examined her leg, inspecting the weld marks, "Easy, Medic, those are still setting."

"Well, if the seams are true, it will not break because of simply prodding, now will it?" Ratchet nearly purred, seeming as if he enjoyed tormenting her a little.

Bulkhead came close to a smile, but not quite making it, his blue optics searching her suspiciously.

"Anyway," Miko continued on her rant, "My teacher just rambled on and on! He was still rambling after the bell! Who does that?" Her eyes rolled dramatically as she shifted on his huge green chest, "It's like he thinks we care or something."

Skyfreeze's optics unintentionally lingered on the pair as they interacted. Bulkhead's inability to fight was an issue avoided very carefully by everyone, even the humans. The human girl spent most of the rest of her time either sitting on, or near Bulkhead. While she was still more than talkative, she instantly stopped talking about anything that might even come close to upsetting her partner. It was surprising how gentle this tough little girl could be with the giant. She seemed so sure of life, willing to rush into danger at the drop of a wrench, but the moment the green giant was thrown into the mixture, she was a different person. She was his nurse, coach, drill captain, and encourager rolled into one. It was spark warming to watch Miko with him. She needed to do something to help those two, but she had other things to consider right now.

Her optics traveled from the human girl slowly making way to the seeker. Smokescreen was chattering about something, servos crossed over his thick and bulky chassis. Seeing them standing side by side was slightly comical - One was sleek and streamline with an air of obvious hard knocks with his experience, but the other was blatantly inexperienced and even innocent in his own way while having the look of a 'bot most would pick first in a game or battle. It was humorous if you took time to dwell on the fact that the one most would view as battle ready had only seen a battle a few days ago, while the weaker looking one was an ex-commander of an entire army. Life was interesting! It was amazing how young the mech seemed beside the seasoned ex-commander. Starscream was gracefully built full of curves and sharp lines - Smokescreen was smoothly built but with thicker, rounder, and more bulk exaggerated lines. They were so drastically different in nature, yet oddly similar. They both enjoyed the sound of their own voice, that was the biggest likeness. They each had a way of babbling on and on, and not always about anything interesting. Still, they both had a rather swift processor, fast thinking, as well as fast talking. Each were prone to overestimate their own importance and strength. Perhaps that was why Optimus made Smokescreen his guard.

By the looks of things, they were exchanging some rather snide comments. The expressions on both their faceplates said as much. It did not really worry her considering her old friend might have been quick tempered and brash, but he was no fool. No matter how angry he might be, he would never be irrational or reckless enough to start a real fight in the enemy base. Though there could have been a touch of insanity lurking under his metal, it was the kind of insanity that only expanded his secret intelligence. His time with Megatron had only stifled his talent, she noticed. There was a time when his potential was limitless and the sharpness of his processor was used for something other than coming up with ways to talk Megatron out of killing him or develop a scheme to usurp the power. She resented what her friend had been reduced to in his time as a commander, wasted on war and mindless battles. That world was no place for a scientist. It had twisted him in ways even she did not understand.

Still, she could see the mech of days past withing that frame. The good in him may have been hidden under a lot of rusted metal, but it was still there. She saw it there in the little things he did and it gave her hope that he would recover from Megatron's hold one day. She had to wonder if it was not his old softer nature that caused so much of his trouble now. Perhaps his hardened and cruel side battled with his gentle natured and kind side to result in an inward battle that foiled his own plans. Then again, she could have been looking at it all wrong - But it did seem that the only ones that ever did badly in this world were the bots with good sparks.

"Must you persist in this line of questioning?" Starscream's voice raised considerably, the annoyed edge in his vocalizer growing harsh as he arched up on his pedes to even the level with the other, "I hope you remember that I, not you, have actually _been_ in battles! I commanded armies!" His voice dipped low in a mocking tone, "And what have you accomplished other than sneaking away from some ill trained underling on a cargo ship?"

"At least," Smokescreen sneered, a sneer almost too like one she had seen on Starscream before, "I'm not the one that let a bunch of human take out his-"

Maybe she was wrong, Starscream might be that irrational given the right trigger.

Bumblebee was quick to move in, his vocalizer a whirl of tones, clicks and beeps. The two were ready to come to blows with the last few comments and the yellow mech knew it. The scout seemed to be one of the kindest sparked bots in this group. He was the peacemaker of the group, always jumping on fast to repair any bridge he was able to. Like Smokescreen, he was young, but wise for his time thanks to a good deal of suffering. She had read his records and discovered a lot about what happened to him in the past. She could sympathize with him, knowing well what it was like to be at the end of Megatron's anger.

Though the two were now turned in a near back to back pout, the yellow and black scout had seemingly ended the argument. What he said to them was unclear but he was a calming sort of presence around them. For all she knew, he threatened to go and get Optimus, but at least the fight was prevented. The childish behavior of Smokescreen and Starscream very nearly seemed to place them at the same age level, with Bumblebee as the sweet older brother. The thought made the femme smile even though Ratchet had only just finished his examination. She slipped off the table to distance herself from the distasteful place and smell to stroll toward the two human boys. The only thing she hated about the process being over was that she would be having a visit from either Starscream or the Prime, and neither set of question filled possibilities was comforting. For now, she was curious over the humans, two of which were engaged in some kind of computer generated game but she had yet to understand why they enjoyed it.

The femme was confused by and interested in these creatures. It was one thing to see them in the records but another to see them in person. She found it incredible to see how they moved, their seamless bodies moving without energon. From what she read, they did use a fuel they called food, but that fuel came in many forms. They did not need to worry about finding only one type of fuel, they could even use the plants around them. Even with that, they seemed to function perfectly. Weak and small though they were, they were resilient and tenacious. The scientist in her was more than a little curious about them. She mildly considered striking up a conversation, but was not sure how. Miko would have been easier to speak to than the boys considering she had already been quite interested in battle stories.

Skyfreeze's systems noticed instantly as the scout moved in behind her but she did not move to show it. Her intake fans wanted to kick in out of annoyance, but she held them down. It was less than comfortable to have someone behind her, but she knew why he was there. His human charge being near an unknown bot like herself worried him. None of them had yet to really trust her and it was understandable that he would want to stay close once he saw her near the boy. They allowed her to move around freely enough, even though she was sure they still watched her from a distance. Smokescreen had become a trusted member of the group because of Optimus. What the youth knew of Iacon was enough to win over the leader, and thus the team. She, however, had no such way to prove herself. In an odd way, the rookie had it better than she did. It annoyed her, if she was honest with herself. She wished she could offer something the way Smokescreen had. She was a bit jealous of him in her own way. It angered her that she was bothered by the lack of trust and sense of distance, but there was little she could do to stop it.

Still not turning her optics from the fast motion of the human game, she lifted her voice slowly, "Was there something you needed, Bumblebee?" She shifted her tone into a near whisper, "Or would you simply like me to move away from your human in the event that I suddenly turn violent?"

Bumblebee's vocalirer whirled in surprise, "_No, that wasn't it! I only came to see how the repair went._"

"Of course you did." She smiled slightly, making optic contact with him briefly before slipping past him. "I will not go near him anymore, have no fear. I can respect your wishes."

The mech moved into step with her swiftly, "_Please, don't take it that way!"_ He waved a hand in a surrendering sort of motion, _"I meant nothing by it, it's just that he is..."_

"Your friend." She finished for him, nodding in understanding though she picked up her pace to escape, "Also vulnerable and in need of protection. Understood."

_"Skyfreeze, it's not that I mistrust you._" Bumblebee protested softly but firmly.

"Of course you do, and you have every right to. You protect your own, just as we all must." She rather swiftly moved past him to head for Starscream's room.

Her optics rolled upward in disgust, not at him, but at herself. She was being foolish and acting like a spoiled sparkling after acceptance and attention. She needed to gain some distance and hopefully some perspective. She was not here to gain friends but to accomplish her mission. The stress was toying with her systems, she supposed, and causing her emotions to malfunction. It was hard to think with any clarity while surrounded by humans and bots but she had done a lot of it, processor never really leaving the issues at hand even though she wanted to. It would be nice to be so easily swayed from her tasks, but she had never been so easily sidetracked. Her fans began to cycle again to cool and calm her.

Distraction or not, she had to think out her movements carefully. Enough was enough with her foolishness. She was not here to find out about the humans or worry over being trusted or even liked. Anymore, she could not allow herself to make a false step. If she planned to succeed in this venture, she had to calculate every possible outcome, every question, and action thrown at her in order to be ahead of it. There were no allotments for mistakes anymore. She had to be perfect from here on out. Optimus had to accept her, and she had to get several things into his hands in order for the plan to work.

Maybe she was not a grand liar, but she had to master it before she spoke with him. No hints of deception could show through or he might see them. If he did not see them, Starscream would. Her old friend would be the hardest to fool. Things were already beginning to fall into place and if she was not utterly careful, he would realize that she was up to something. If that happened she did not know what she might be forced to do. Being false with him felt like betrayal, but she had no choices open.

She did not want to betray him, she really did not. He had been betrayed so many times before that she was terrified of joining the long list of those he could not trust. He was all she had, and always had been since the first they met. Likewise, she might have been the only one that never turned on him, and she did not want to make him think she had. Her pede traced nervous circles over the floor as she thought. It would kill her if he thought she betrayed him because that was the last thing in the world she wanted. To be distanced from him was painful considering they had always been rather open with each other. They never openly spoke of their past but they did not lie to each other either.

The trouble was, this time, she had to lie. Telling him the truth in this case could cost him as much as it cost her, and that was not a price she ever wanted to let him pay. She never wanted him to be involved at all, but fate seemed intent on throwing him into things. Even so, if it came to that, she would let him believe she was turning on him. It would be better than the alternative. A lie was preferable to getting her dearest and most loved friend killed. She loved him too much to allow him to enter this world.

The door swished open causing her to instantly become ridged with dread. No matter how much she rehearsed her answers in her processor, she would never feel ready enough to face the bot she knew was in the doorway. Even the one beside him could present a challenge considering his skill for getting under her metal. She did have to credit the Prime for allowing her to tend to her physical needs before the interrogation.

A familiar, sophisticated, and deep vocalizer rumbled behind her, "Skyfreeze, may I have a word with you?"

Turing slightly on her pedes she tilted her helm up toward the Prime questioningly, "Now, Sir?"

Ratchet's optic ridge arched in his condescending manor, the way he always looked when he was gearing up to mock any of them, "Of course now! Are you waiting for him to send you a written invitation?"

"Would you please accompany me to another location, Skyfreeze?" The Prime moved ahead as if to ignore all else.

Without hesitation, hoping not to betray her fear, she nodded and moved to exit the room.

The three of them made their way to a different part of the base, a part she guessed to the where the Autobot's resided normally. She found herself surrounded the moment she stepped out of the little room, the Prime at her front and the medic at her back. It could have been nothing, but she had the feeling they were blocking her exits in a covert manner. The others were moving in as well, even Smokescreen with Starscream in tow. The seeker seemed nervous, but so did the others. Every optic was glued to her, even the humans were watching now. The Prime had clearly spoken to them while she was in the temporary cell for Starscream. Now she wished she had stayed out to overhear what he told them, but it did not matter. She was ready for this. Everything he could have found on her had already been considered and countered in her mind. She could handle this.

The Prime slowed before turning into a room off the main hallway and motioning for her to follow. As she stepped in, she nearly expected to find torture tools inside, but there were computers lining most of the walls instead. Though there were no personal items to indicate it, she guessed this was where Optimus stayed, working around the clock, she guessed. She could be greatful she was with the Autobots since this was a perk from what she would have gotten on the Decepticon ship. Her faceplate remained emotionless even though her circuits were pulsing with terror the second those wise optics turned on her again, the leader's huge frame turning to face her directly. She took note that the door did not shut behind the medic as he entered and she wondered who else was waiting at the door to keep the sensors active.

"You said upon meeting that you have often been know by the name of Skyangel. That is correct?" He spoke softly, but with a firmness that would have made any guilty bot tremble in anticipation of discovery.

"Yes, Sir. I got the name because of my extensions." She linked her servos behind her back as he tilted her helm to one side, "I believe it was Autobots that gave it to me after they heard Starscream call me Sky during an occasion I used the wings."

"We know all about that, you don't have to tell us." Ratchet interjected, clearly wanting to cut past the first lines of conversation.

Optimus again moved on as if not noticing the irritation of the medic, "We also know that you were sideless, fighting either side you came into contact with. You have admitted that as well."

She leaned forward on her pedes slightly, "I only defended myself when presented with the need to do so. I never went out in search of a battle." Persisting in her defense a bit more, she added, "And if you know my record, you should also know that I only stunned them long enough to escape. Anything past that had nothing to do with me."

"Of course it had to do with you if they were killed!" Ratchet spoke up again, the blatant hint of anger in his voice, "If you leave them defenseless, exactly what do you think is going to happen? If they can't fight or run, what do you think is going to happen to them? You think the enemy will wait until they snap out of it to be polite?"

Her optics dropped to the floor, unable to deny his words - She never considered it until she had seen the Drones frozen and seen what Arcee was going to do.

"You worked in a scientific building on Cybertron with Starscream and several others. You also do not deny that." This time the Prime fully ignored Ratchet's comments as well as hers.

Skyfreeze nodded her helm slowly, sensing that the irrelevant questions were finally out of the way. He was clearly setting the scene for the main event, lining up the base for his real questioning. She was being dismantled piece by piece before he set out his proof of her lies, whatever he believed they were.

"Well," Ratchet stepped closer, servos pointed at the computer, "Optimus did a bit of looking into you during the night and while you left with Arcee, and he found a few remaining records from Cybertron that have you mentioned in them. We already knew about you and your wings, but he found out a few interesting facts." Ratchet locked optics with her suddenly, "And we know you are not what you say."

Allowing a slight lowering of her optic ridges, she pressed for more, "What exactly do you mean?"

"He means that we now know that you cannot be Skyangel." The Prime eyed her curiously, "The femme known as Skyangel is offline and has been for eons. She is listed in the bodies found after a battle. She was in very poor condition but she was clearly identified. Thus, you are posing under her designation falsely."

"You thought the records of her death would be lost, I suppose, but we found them." Ratchet crossed his servos over his chassis as if to issue her a formal challenge, "So, exactly who are you? One of Megatron's spies like the impostor we had a while ago when Wheeljack arrived?"

Ah, so that was what they found, that was less of a problem than what she was expecting. "The records are correct." She stated rather blankly, "I was offlined on Cybertron, but I was also brought back later."

"What rust covered scrap are you trying to feed us?" Ratchet nearly yelled, "We know that all those revived by the dark energon were returned to their previous state after the bridge exploded. Even if a few remained, they were nothing but mindless creatures! Once their bodies burned through the dark energon, they were as dead as they ever were. Besides, I took the precaution of looking at your spark chamber, and there is none in you! Past the wounds received here, you seem undamaged."

Skyfreeze instantly bristled upon hearing his insinuation, "I am not stating that at all, medic! I was not revived by dark energon!"

"Then by all means, please explain your miracle to us!" Ratchet took a threatening step closer, taking the opportunity to look down on her.

She glared back at him, realizing with some indignation that most of the 'repairs' he had done on her were more to examine her than help her.

"Ratchet, allow her to explain her words." Optimus cut in, taking a step forward to calm the two of them with a servo place on each of their shoulders.

Skyfreeze tried desperately not to think of how huge that servos was in comparison to her. She did not wish to entertain the thought of how easily he could crush her helm with that very servo he was using to calm them. Having his Megatron sized servos on her was far from comforting and more like a terrible set of memories, but she ignored it until he pulled away again. She only realized she held her intakes after he was no longer touching her. It was all she could do to keep her cycling to a normal hum as she took a few steps back for distance. She could see Bumblebee hiding at the door, but she also noticed Smokescreen and none but Starscream as well. Having an audience was always fun when trying desperately to keep from showing terror.

Optimus spoke again in a calming sort of tone, "If you can explain to us how you are still online, there will be no further problems. Likewise, if you cannot, we will be forced to view you as a spy and take you into custody."

Her servos crossed over her chassis in an attempt to look unmoved, even though she was holding them so tightly against her it might have been more of a tell, "Starscream knows me better than anyone, why not ask him if I am the real one or not?" She was going off script, she needed to relax.

"Right, because he has always been a trusted source of information, never with a reason to lie to us for his own benefit." Ratchet scoffed, "And it is not as if he would cover for you or anything!"

Her optics snapped to the medic's, "He is no longer with Megatron, so how would he even know to cover for me? He left Megatron's forces, so what reason does he have to defend him?"

"When has that ever mattered? His loyalty is to anyone that is helpful to him at the time!" Ratchet paused suddenly, processor working, optics narrowing, "How did you know he left Megatron and went rogue?"

Skyfreeze stared at him and did her best not to allow the horror to slip onto her faceplate - Dear Primus, though, she had slipped, "He told me." She lied swiftly and just hoped, or rather begged Primus for the seeker to chose to stay silent.

As if seeing the timing was right, the seeker stepped into the room slowly, staring her directly in the optics as he spoke, "Of course, why should I not tell her?" He shrugged as he strolled forward a bit more, "I will admit that I was stunned when you first told me she might be a fake... asking me questions about her and showing me the records. Even I had to question." His red optics finally moved from her to stare at the Prime, "But I know Angel, and she is the real one. I have no doubt at all, even if you will not believe my word."

The urge to run and hug him was nearly overwhelming, but she stood her ground stoically all the same. Whatever reason he had for saying it, she could see that the Prime was considering it. Starscream sounded so genuine but even she was unsure if he was being honest. His reasons for doing anything seemed to always be in question, if the records of his behavior were any indication. Did he believe her or was he just saying he did? She had just lied in front of him a moment ago, so how could she be sure? But no matter Starscream's beliefs, or reasons, he was covering for her. She could hope he believed her but nothing more. Having the medic around really was a bad thing, like she expected. He got under her metal, and when that happened, she talked.

Optimus turned his eyes onto her as if to prompt her to speak - The room was eerily quiet now as they stared at her. She rehearsed this, she mentally reminded herself. This was the lesser problem of things they could have found out. There was no reason for her to be frightened or worried. She knew what to do so she simply had to remain on her script this time.

"Well," She began slowly, "Everything you have said is true. The records are correct, but not complete." Her vents made a few spins to clear out before she continued with an even voice, "This might be hard for you to believe, but it is the truth as far as I know it. There are things that even I do not fully understand or even remember, my memory is slightly damaged, but I will do my best."

"Is this going to be a long story?" Smokescreen muttered softly, as if he had not intended her to hear, but Bumblebee glared in an indication for him not to be any louder.

Skyfreeze squared she shoulder struts to stand tall and firm before speaking, "In the time before things occurred, Megatron, as you likely know, had been pushing Starscream and I to join his side. We refused multiple times, but he tended to dwell anyway. A little prior to the events, Megatron conveyed some information to me privately... I can guess now that it was a trap, but I did not know it at the time." She glanced up at Optimus as she went over the memory, "I heard you speak once before he approached me with the information, and I had already decided to side with you. After I heard you I knew you were the only leader that could bring Cybertron to a fair way of living. I believed your words."

The Prime showed no reaction in his faceplate, but she saw a shift in his optics that told her she was gaining on him.

"So, I decided to give the information to a known Autobot I encountered at your speaking engagement, one called Cliffjumper." She noticed everyone suddenly tense, even the rookie and the seeker. "He agreed to meet with me later in more secure area." She paused a moment before continuing, her nerves starting to tense, "I remember little more than that I did meet him, but when I did, Megatron was also there waiting..." Her fans kicked on as she tried to push away the memories enough to speak evenly, "That was how I was taken offline."

Ratchet swiftly jumped in, "Are you insinuating that_ Cliffjumper_ handed you over to Megatron? Do you honestly expect us to believe that?" He sounded more than a little enraged, as if she spoke ill of Primus himself.

She noticed the stunned way that Starscream was looking at her, the confusion and sparkling like fear in his optics, but she shook her helm, "No, I am not saying that. The mech was not Cliffjumper, but Makeshift. I did not know your friend well enough to spot him as a false version."

It was interesting how all optics went wide with either wonder or shock at her words. It amused her slightly but did nothing to ease the slight trembling in her servos. The only one that seemed unaffected was Smokescreen, but that was likely because he had never met the Decepticon mech. So far so good, she was doing a rather flawless job of staying to she her mental script, even looking at the Prime at the right times. Starscream seemed to take it with the most reaction, oddly, but he recovered swiftly. He clearly wanted to say something but he held back, likely intending to speak with her later. There was anger in his optics for just a moment but it vanished as swiftly as it came. Bumblebee had finally come all the way into the room, leaving Smokescreen as the last one in the doorway.

_"You are saying Makeshift lured you to Megatron? That is the trap you were talking about?"_ Bumblebee's pure blue optics stared into her, seeming to want to believe her - Such a gentle spark he was.

"Yes." Was her only response, hating every second of this talk and being forced to relive the event.

"And you are saying that it was Megatron that took you offline?" Ratchet finally had less edge to his vocalizer, but he gained it back quickly, "That might explain how you were offlined, but not how you were revived! If he took you off, he surely did not revive you."

She flexed her servos to try to hide the shaking, glad to be moving on, "That part is what you will find harder to believe. Even I have a hard time understanding it... But after I went offline, I found myself with the Allspark, just as we always heard as sparklings... I think I even saw Primus for a moment. But I was stopped before I was joined with it, pulled back." She paused, deciding to look at the Prime for this part, "I was pulled back by Solus Prime. She told me that she would return me to this universe but I was to help you locate the final Iacon relics." She looked away again, fixing her eyes on the computers, "She said Megatron was going to continue his rule, desecrating everything he touched, even the Prime's themselves if he was not stopped. So they restored me to my original function."

* * *

Everyone was silent, and for once, even he was unable to find a single word to utter. Sky was talking fantasy and he could not see how she expected to get away with it. Granted, he figured out what she was up to, but had she learned nothing from him? Never go for the wild and outlandishly crazy answers, always keep a lie simple enough to be believed! Giving them some story about a dead Prime was a horrible lie to take on. Granted, they could never prove she was lying, so it was brilliant in that way, but they would also never believe her. He needed to sit her down and teach her the basics, the art of lies.

Starscream picked up on her lie the minute she said that Cliffjumper was Makeshift because that was impossible. Makeshift had been in a battle that day, so it could not have been him. She had to lie to them about the cocky red Autobot, and he understood that. They would not have taken to the idea that one of their own brutally killed her, which he knew personally that he had. Soundwave showed him the captured images, for Primus sake. The Autobot must simply have made a mistake and left her alive.

If it were him telling the story, he would have gone with something down to earth. He would likely have told the first part exactly the way she had, with the setup and all of those things to get them on his side. For the second part, he would have taken the logical path and said that the bruits only thought he was dead because of the massive damage, but that someone, and he could pick at random on what bot, came along and revived him. Even saying that Shockwave came and saved her out of the goodness of his spark would have been better that saying Solus Prime ushered her back. Later he would need to get the real story from her, but for now, he would back her to the bitter end. This was Angel, no matter what any of them said.

"Wait... Solus Prime?" Smokescreen finally muscled his way into the room, finding his vocalizer before any of the rest, "Seriously?"

Angel simply stared at him, daring him to prove it a lie. She looked so confident that it was surprising, but she could not hide the tremble in her servos. No matter how good she was, she could not fool him into believing she was not afraid. He could not blame her for being afraid considering she was facing all these bulky bots that had it out for her. One little femme facing all of these mechs gave her reason to shake. He would be shaking too if he just told a story that outrageous.

"_So, what you are saying is... you are here to get revenge on Megatron... and she saw that and thought that made you a good choice? You joined us as the best way to get back at him_?" The scout moved a little closer, seeming still stuck mainly back with her story about what Megatron had done, noticing the underlying factor of the story.

Angel tipped her helm his way delicately, "Revenge... perhaps in my own way." Her voice was soft and meek, optics moving back to the computers as if she were seeing the passed on creatures right now, "But more than revenge, I owe her for restoring me. Megatron is an enemy to the Prime line, to their successor, so I owe it to them to stop him as payment."

Starscream had to admit she was giving a beautiful delivery. Femme's always could play the soft, meek, and lovable card better than any mech alive. It was in their wiring to be good at making themselves seem so innocent and truthful that it made mech's believe them just because it was impossible to consider an innocent little creature like this could possibly be anything other than real. It was a beautiful ability! So far, she seemed to have just won Bumblebee, and even Smokescreen looked like he was wavering. It figured that she could get the younger mechs. Humans had a saying about spiders and flies that reminded him of this. The real problems were the other two older mechs in the room and he could not tell how she was doing with them.

Ratchet's vents hissed in a scoff, "I can't believe you expect us to buy this slag. Do you think we were all born yesterday?"

Angel turned her innocent little optics to face his, expression stoic, "I cannot control what you do or do not believe, I can only tell you the truth. These are my memories. Even if my memory was somehow damaged and I only believe I saw those things, they are still my motivation."

Oh, he had to say, that was a good shot! The medic could not really dispute her words no matter how much he wanted to. That innocent delivery was flawless, enough that he had to believe her for a moment. How could anyone argue with words like those? She was far more skilled than he expected. When had she learned to lie like this? He must have been a better teacher than he thought. Good thing too, or she would be drowning in this story of hers.

"Well, then why did it take you so long to get here? You should have been here before me, at least!" Smokscreen had regained his processor, it seemed.

Again, she turned to fix him with those lovely blue optics, "I did not awaken until after Cybertron had been destroyed. I had no idea where to go other than a planet called Earth. At the time, I was unfamiliar with it, so I simply had to search until I found it." She paused, scanning his faceplate, "Like you, I was also captured along the way, but I took a ship that was still under repair. It had an internal map, one of the locations was Earth, so I took it out while they were deploying other ships."

There, she had Starscream's guard on a string. She had an answer for everything and was clearly winning. It was two mechs down, two to go. The Prime had not said a word yet, so he was hard, even impossible to read at this point. Ratchet wavered for a moment but seemed to have his walls back up. Perhaps it was time for him to give her a hand. If she needed help winning the crowd, he was always good at that. He could go along with whatever she said. In the past, when the boss showed up while they were doing side projects, they had done splendidly at lying on the same page. Back then, she let him lead, but he could follow her just as easily.

"Oh, Angel..." Starscream began, allowing his vocalizer to keep a soft volume, "I just can't believe this happened to you. As your friend, I wish I could have been there to help you." That was the truth, "It must have been so confusing for you... Especially finding out about our home planet that way."

"_That's true. We had time to adjust to the fall because we were there for it_." Bumblebee nodded his helm slowly, obviously sold, gentle spark easy to win.

"Wait, wait, wait!" Ratchet threw up his servos, "I don't remember her giving us any proof of anything! All we have is her word and a known traitors!" He glared at both of them, "Somehow, that is not enough for me."

Starscream bristled slightly, allowing himself a little well placed indignation, "Sure, bring up my loyalty again!" He scowled at the medic, "But who in this room really thinks staying loyal to Megatron is the best option anyway... especially after we know he is the one that killed Angel to start with!" He was using her words as fact on purpose, basing his own defense around hers - It would either help or hinder.

"Skyangel," Nearly everyone in the room jumped when Optimus' deep voice hit the air at last, "I regret that since you have no way to prove your statements, I must consider you a potential threat."

Her optics widened slightly but she lowered her helm in submission, linking her servos behind her back.

"For the time being, you will be confined to the base. If your intentions prove true, I will lift you confinement. You may, however, move within these walls as you please." Optimus' round optics moved to Bumblebee, "For now, as I assigned Smokescreen to Starscream, Bumblebee will watch over you. When your guards are away, Ratchet and Bulkhead will take over."

Again she nodded, "Of course."

The Prime seemed to hesitate but finally persisted slowly, "Ratchet will also take your weapon system offline for now. I cannot allow you to remain here with such a dangerous advantage while your motives are in question."

Skyfreeze's helm snapped up instantly, optics wide and almost fearful, "My... my weapon system?"

Starscream tensed nearly as much as she had, knowing full well those weapons were her one and only defense against anything, "Wait, you don't have to do that!" He found himself stepping defensively closer to her, "She has given you no reason for such action."

Optimus eyed him before continuing, "However, I have taken note that Skyangel has yet to acquire an Earthly vehicular mode. It is necessary for her to take on an alternat form so I will send she and Bumblebee out tonight for that task."

Starscream allowed his vocalizer to dip low in anger, "So you plan to take away her only defense and then send her outside so she can be target practice?"

A gentle pressure on his arm sobered him instantly as she moved beside him, "I will submit to your requests. I understand your reasoning fully and I would do the same if I were in your position." Tipping forward slightly, she bowed respectfully, "The Prime's are always wise and they always do what is best for all involved. I thank you for allowing me to remain here."

The Prime nodded and moved past them all to the door.

"Wait..." Starscream found his vocalizer again as he stepped forward, watching Optimus pause to look back over his massive shoulder plating, "Might I request to accompany them?" The seeker paused, linking his servos at his hip joint so as not to seem too pleading, "It is not that I do not trust the scout to protect her, I would just feel more at ease if I could be at her side as well."

Those huge round optics studied him, staring right into his spark for what seeming like ages, finally speaking, "Smokescreen and Bumblebee will escort you both. But," Optimus turned to face the seeker more fully, "Starscream, do not make me regret granting this request."

That tone made his spark shrink a little but he nodded quickly to show his agreement, not trusting his vocalizer enough to speak. The Prime frightened him almost as much as Megatron did, only in a different way. The huge blue and red mech was the only one in the world that had battled Megatron and ended up on top more times than not. While he was a kinder presence there was still a threatening aura about him that said clearly never to truly get on his bad side. He had a true spark that had even given Megatron the benefit of the doubt multiple times, but he had even come to his end with Megatron now. Everyone knew he would no longer show mercy to the Decepticon leader and were he Megatron, that would worry him. Starscream was just lucky he was still on the list of mercy and the Prime's known motto about bots being able to change.

* * *

The sun had yet to set over the many barren looking hills of the area, hanging just above the horizon. She liked the trees and greenery of earth better than the rocky places, but this was good enough. Skyfreeze stepped lightly over the rocky ground as she looked out over the human highway below them in the distance. She never wanted to take a vehicular mode, but she was afraid not to after all of this. Optimus ordered her to, sent her out here for it, so what choice was there? Her vents kicked on as she thought about the meeting. She did her best, she really had. She hoped that naming a previous Prime would help her case, but it did not seem to. Maybe if she added in some details it would have helped her a bit. It was hard to think of everything while also hiding everything.

Much of what she said was the truth, but an equal portion was also a lie. There was only so much she could even be honest about without entering territory she was not allowed to touch. She was getting better at keeping secrets though. Starscream had been a rather good teacher after all. But then, he had not been her only teacher in deception. A good lie held near equal parts of truth mixed with the false aspects for balance. Without intending to, her frame shook suddenly at the faceplate that entered her processor, seeing that one again would be far from pleasant when the time came. With her weapon offline she felt so much more vulnerable, as if even her memories could get her now.

A servo gently touched her shoulder plate, and she was surprised to find it the scout's rather than the seeker's, "_Are you alright?_" He questioned softly in his broken voice.

She did not pull away from his touch, simply nodding, "Yes, I am fine." Her arms moved to encircle her waist, "I am just feeling a little exposed, I suppose. I never have cared much for being defenseless... but you would not understand that. A mech like you seems the type to always be in control no matter what, the tenacious and confident type."

Bumblebee gave her a light pat, "_I do understand, actually._"

A bit of guilt hit her for her choice just now. She knew perfectly well that he would understand, which is why she said what she had. He had been Megatron's victim before, and he had also lost the use of his T-cog, meaning he could neither transform nor use his weapons. His broken voice would forever be proof, or his mark, for the torment he suffered. No matter what he did, it was always there to remind him of those memories. She knew he would feel a little compassion for her situation, and she knew she could win him over more easily with it. She hated these games, and yet here she was, playing them. Here was another thing she owed Megatron for, forcing her to be everything she hated most.

_"I'm sorry it has to be this way for a while._" He continued, "_But Optimus never does anything without a reason. It is to protect all of us, even you._" Bee looked at her almost playfully, "_But he did let you come out here to find an alt form, so he must trust you more than you think."_

* * *

Seeing the scout with her that way really burned his gears. Who did that yellow mech think he was to stand so close to Angel? What was he trying to do, be friends? Red optics drilled the two in hidden irritation, unobserved by his own guard. Why the bug being so close to Sky angered him so much, he was not sure, but it did. Maybe it was just because it was the first time he had seen her look at anyone with a gentleness in her optics like that. Normally she only looked at him that way, as a friend. For having everything stripped from her, she was pretty calm about it. Starscream could not really understand how she could let one of the Autobots near her so easily after that.

He needed to talk to her and find out exactly what she was planning, because he knew she had _something_ in mind. There was a deviousness to her actions and he knew it. She was smart, too smart not to have something up her metal. In all the time he had known her, he had never known her not to have a plan brewing inside that pretty helm of hers. No matter what the situation, she always had a strategy to be ahead of whatever game was playing out. He had a few plans of his own but he was not foolish enough to move on them without knowing what she was up to. Two big plans moving at once often canceled each other out without intending to. If they simply combined forces, they could be the one in control, they simply had to play it right.

His optics narrow as he watched her with Bumblebee, suddenly curious to know if that was what she was already doing. The mech was her guard... so could she be _trying_ to earn his trust? Maybe she was trying to win him over to her side. That would actually make a great deal of sense. He glanced at his own guard, considering how he should have already been doing the same thing. How did that femme always manage to be ahead of him anyway? Had he been trying to win this sparkling over from the start, he might have the base by now! Of course, he had to admit she had a much easier mark than he did. She was a femme, and already viewed as less threatening, but with her weapons offline she was in perfect position to win. The bug was already geared to be more her protector than guard as it was. He nearly had to curse or growl in annoyance.

The competitive side of him could not let her win that easily, his pedes moving him practically on their own - Casually, under the watch of his guard, he made his way toward the two. "Might I, for just a moment, speak with Angel in private?" He made all the effort to sound as nice as possible, but it came off sounding more venomous than anything else.

After a moment of hesitation, the scout finally nodded and stepped away toward Smokescreen.

Her big blue optics looked up at him curiously, "What is it?" She sounded so innocent but he could not tell if it was genuine or not.

Of course, he had nearly forgotten that he did need to talk to her, so caught up in his own need to be ahead, "I need to talk to you." He stated, knowing she would kill him if she knew this started out as simple jealousy, "About some things."

Her voice lowered reflexively to a whisper, "What things?"

Starscream's own volume dropped even lower than hers, "About what you said in the base, what else? I wanted to talk to you where we might have a chance of having a real conversation. The base is likely bugged after all." He hooked a servo around her arm to tug her farther away from the other two.

"Star, this is going to look suspicious. We have to be careful." She prompted, always the voice of reason.

He ignored her, simply keeping his voice low, "I need to know what really happened, Sky. How did you really vanish?"

Her helm cocked to the side, "I already told you how it happened."

"Sky, " He shook his helm, "I know it could not have been Makeshift that did it, he was in a battle that same day." The tone of his voice dipped into a growl, "I know it was the Autobot."

Skyfreeze pulled her arm out of his grasp, looking at him as if he suddenly ceased to speak a language she understood, "Exactly how are you so sure about anything when you were not even there?" She cut the air with a sharp downward motion of a servo, "Believe me, I remember very, very well what happened that day."

He wavered a moment, seeing her so adamant, "Just tell me what really happened... no angles or any of that. I need to know!"

Her optics flashed with what could only have been anger or hurt, "I told you already. Makeshift posed as Cliffjumper and lead me to Megatron. They lead me to a trap. Granted, Makeshift did leave after that... I remember him leaving." She paused as if trying to remember something, optics flitting to the ground, then continued, "Megatron said he knew I might betray him so he set up the test when Laserbeak saw me at the Prime's talk."

His pedes moved him back a few steps, him frame tensing as he examined her faceplate. She... was telling the truth, he could see it. What she was saying was the truth. Without realizing it he began to pace slightly, his system firing in overdrive as his processor worked over the issues. He knew what he saw, he knew what the Autobots had done, so why was she saying this? He knew what had happened, and she even admitted that her memory might have been damaged. Still, something like that did sound exactly like Megatron, but she had to be wrong! There was no way that could have been anyone but the Autobots, most of all Cliffjumper. He only got his hands on that mech twice, but both times he had seen enough to know it was the right one.

The first time when he had the red mech and Arcee, he had not been sure it was that same mech considering the poor quality of those old images. Cliffjumper seemed too airheaded to be the one and he determined it could not have been the over talkative oaf. After Shockwave took out Arcee, or seemed to have, he mainly decided to use the bots as a surrogate for the real culprit, deciding to take his revenge on the nearest lookalike to the bot he really hated - One of the times he could not chase away old memories. Why not take his time with an enemy and release his anger, or that was what he thought. After the two escaped, when Cliffjumper and Arcee had him on table, the mech's threat reverberated in his core long after he was unconscious, it was then that he knew for sure. He remembered well the terror of realizing the mech before him was the one that tortured Angel to death. He had simply been grateful he escaped alive. The next time he got his grip on the red horned Autobot he made sure to send him to the allspark with his own servos. But if what she was telling him was true...

"Perhaps your memory is just confused?" He had not intended to sound so desperate, "I saw the images myself, Angel. Cliffjumper was the one with you as well as Ironhide."

Angel stared at him almost blankly for a moment before her optics narrowed slightly in thought, "Who showed you those images?"

"Soundwave showed them to me after I recovered from the Autobot raid of our lab." His fans hitched when he thought back to the many bodies, "I had little memory of what happened... I mainly only remembered everyone running and screaming when the attack began. You were separated from the group during that time while you tried to escape. They caught you though..."

"The lab was attacked the day I..." She did not finish her question, optics falling to the ground as she took in the information, but he answered anyway.

"The Autobots raided the lab and took everything we had because they believed we were making weapons." His vocalizer took a dive in anger, servo clenching into a fist, "They killed everyone that got in their way. I was the only one to survive."

There was a silence between them for a long moment as she pondered it, slowly turning her optics up to his, "If you do not remember what happened, how do you know that?"

Without hesitation, he answered her, "Megatron told me." He did not even question the fact until he saw that look in her optics, a knowing sort of expression that sent a tremble up his spinal strut, "H-he told me. He said you got out the back in the chaos and tried to escape but... they caught you."

"Starscream," She stepped closer, voice taking on and edge of intensity, "Do you really think I would have run without you? Would I have left without you even if I had to carry you out myself?"

It was true, where other bots with any sense would run, she never would have. Skyfreeze would never have left him there, she did not have that much sense, she was too stubborn. Even when she should have left him when they were stuck between the two factions, her sleek and smaller frame could have made it out nearly undetected, she never left him. Her extensions were no where near as much a problem as his wings in the tighter spaces of what had become a battlefield. At the time he had no weapons, and attempting to fly would have meant being shot down instantly. He armed himself the next day, but without Angel's wings he would not have lived long enough to need to.

Suddenly he felt like his intake fans could never take in enough air to cool his system. His processor was whirling as his mind worked over everything he heard today. How could this all be true? How could he, the most distrustful mech alive, have been taken in so easily? How had he ever believed them? He was supposed to be the trickster, not the tricked party. After he awakened and heard all the things that happened, he never questioned it, blindly believing what he was told like a sparkling. Using the rock wall behind him for support, he slowly slid to the ground, pulling his knees to his chest. Now that she was here with him it was so terribly clear. They took his grief and twisted it the way they wanted it, practically programming him. His body felt like it wanted to cave in. He had been played! Whether the Autobots even attacked the lab at all was questionable now. It they lied about Angel they could have lied about everything. For someone that had been with Megatron for so long, seen all the conniving, how had he never even questioned it? He could not accept this! This could not be true!

"You have to be wrong, Angel." He muttered softly, fans whirling to cool him.

Slowly, she sank down beside him, "Why did you decide to join the Decepticons?"

"Because, Angel," Jerking her closer against him, fingers sinking into her shoulder joints, he nearly yelled, "I wanted revenge for what they did to all of us! I was the only one left so it was up to me! I had to make them pay!" He released her when he noticed the pain in her optics.

The two mechs had taken to hiding themselves behind the rock face, plastered against it like they were part of it. It did not really matter at this point considering neither Starscream nor Skyfreeze remembered they were there anymore, processors far too full of the new information to care about anything else. Angel had never known the fate of their co-workers before now, simply hoping they were lucky enough to escape. He had never known the real truth behind her vanishing. No, they no longer cared who was near or bothered to notice.

In a matter of minutes his world had fallen apart. Everything he knew and relied on was gone. His spark was clenching and pulsing painfully with the stress. The rules he lived by no longer seemed to matter and he had been seeking answers in all the wrong places. He wanted revenge, but what did he really have after all this time?

"Oh Primus, Angel..." He shook his helm in horror as the thoughts raced through his mind, "What did I do? I thought I was getting revenge, but..."

Rather than pulling away, she curled up to his side, her frame moving to fit with his, "I'm sorry. This was all my fault. If I had not underestimated Megatron, seen that ploy for what it really was... If I had stayed ahead of him like I should have none of this would have happened to you." Her smooth faceplate slid in to rest at his neck cables, servos snaking around his thin waist slowly, "My overconfidence was what brought this about. Forgive me, Starscream... I would take it all back if I could!"

Shifting his upper body, he slid his arm free to coil around her tiny body, "Why are you sorry? You are not the only one he has ever tricked."

There was more he could have said but none of it would have come out right, so he let his words drop. The two drifted into silence as they sat together on the cold ground, the night air chilling as the sun sank lower. His optics shuttered slightly as he stared out over the dusty landscape. All this time had passed, been stolen from them, a life time! As he stayed there holding her he was at a loss to know why. It was such a waist, all of it. Right now he just wanted to stay here with her and rust forever, away from this pointless war. All the lives lost or destroyed, and for what? Megatron's crazed lust for power and the Prime's idealistic quest for sweeping peace. This battle had gone on since Unicron and the first Prime's and it was never going to end. This struggle they were forced into was eternal and neither side was ever going to be victorious, so what did it matter? For all he cared right now, Megatron and the Prime could both burn. Megatron first, then the Prime! They both deserved to destroy each other for taking everything that ever mattered! They were both to blame and he hated them for it! They could both just die and do the world a favor.

His optic ridges turned down in thought. Come to think of it, why not? As the femme sat here at his side, he wondered why they should not simply both leave it all. How she had been revived did not matter as long as she was with him. They could go rogue together and make them all pay! If they were together things would be different. He had come close before to taking down that dark energon pumped slagger, but with Sky at his side, he could finish it. She would never need to scream in fear during recharge again if she was ruling by his side. After that, with command of the whole ship, they would be unstoppable. She had always been everything he needed and they worked best together. Even on Cybertron, they worked best together. If they worked together now he knew they were sure to be victorious. Why should they go back just to be prisoners of the Autobots, no better than slaves? That was no way to live when they could do as they pleased. Why should they fight for anyone but themselves?

His sorrow and confusion had turned so swiftly to blazing hate and longing for revenge that he hardly realized it. The hate was easier to deal with than the sadness because it was familiar. He did not want to think about anything else anymore. If he had learned anything in his time with the gladiator it was that you could let hate be your fuel. You had to move forward or die. Megatron never mourned a loss, he skipped to revenge. Starscream had the hate, so maybe it was time for the revenge.

Starscream was brought out of his dark thoughts by the sound of heavy shuffling pedes.

"So," Smokescreen was uncomfortable even if he tried to play it off, "I was thinking we might as well head back and try again in the morning." He shuffled in place as he spoke, "I mean, there has been what... three junky cars pass this whole time and it's getting dark."

Starscream stood, pulling Skyfreeze up with him, "Yes, I quiet agree." It was all he could do not to grin at the mech before him, his vocalizer low with anticipation, "We should really try again."

**AN: I was tired of no cover but the one now isn't the one I want. I'm not finished with the real covers, so for now, have Angel's face.**


	6. Folly of Emotion

**Folly of Emotion**

The femme was more than a little uncomfortable. Why the mechs had decided to flank her, forming a triangle around her like an odd protective detail, she could not even guess. Starscream was at her front, which was normal since he tended to like to take the lead, while the other two took up the back. The two hulking guards strolled forward like they were Iacon's very best, but maybe they were by now - It was not as if many mechs were even still alive to compete with. Skyfreeze felt small and vulnerable this way, without her weapons online, and these three being so close was not helpful. The moment she could move, she intended to flee for any vacated area available. Even Starscream was taller than she was by a slight amount, and wider too. She was feeling the need to be around femmes again, but Arcee was unlikely to be of much comfort.

It was odd the things one observed when under stress, but she could not help noticing the sound difference in the way they all walked. Smokescreen and Bumblebee each made a similar clunking boom as their thick pedes clopped over the ground like the giants they were. While her steps were much quieter, her's sounded far more like the seeker at her front - His sharp pedes making more of a heavy clacking snip over the floor. It struck her now that is was no wonder she used to be mistaken for a seeker on Cybertron. Even Arcee's pedes were more like the grounder mechs behind her instead of the seeker. Skyfreeze really was built more like a seeker than most bots were. Another point against her in the Autobot world considering most seekers tended to be Decepticons.

The group of four moved over the white symbol on the floor as they returned, catching the medic's optics. "Did you find an alt mode for her?" He questioned without even bothering to look up from his work.

It was slightly exasperating that he had not bothered to ask her that question, asking only his 'equals' in the group - Or that was her feeling.

"Nah, it was deserted out there so we called it a night." Smokescreen waved a servo at Ratchet, "We'll try again tomorrow morning."

Somehow, she had a hunch the whole story of what they heard would not take long to circulate and she regretted not considering that before. Granted, the base could be bugged the way Starscream suggested, but how much worse could it be than what they already did? Those two mechs heard every word, she could be assured. That was another thing that had her on edge even more than being trapped with them. What had been talked about should have been private and if she had been thinking, it would have been. Starscream always dragged her into situations she regretted straying into later on. Why had she never learned? Humiliation was creeping higher and higher into her system the more she thought about what she let those two see of her more vulnerable side. Thank Primus she did not tell Starscream all she could have! At least she kept some of her wits about her and did not cave to those pitiful optics. She had come rather close a few times, close to telling him everything, but she held in the words. She needed to be careful what she let the seeker drag out of her.

Miko moved from the couch to lean against the railing of the human platform, "So that was a wasted bunch of time you guys could have been working, huh?"

"It was not a total loss!" Smokescreen smirked, answering a little too fast for comfort.

Bumblebee jabbed the mech beside him swiftly to silence him, being the more tactful of the two.

Skyfreeze's frame sagged a little, already dreading every second of the secret chatter she knew would go on behind her back, and the story would only grow worse with the telling - Why did she never learn?

"Nothing is ever a total loss." Starscream muttered, casting a mysterious look the mech's way, holding himself tall and challenging regardless of being smaller.

The human girl arched a brow, big brown eyes scanning the group before her with peaking interest, "So, what happened out there then? See any 'Con action?" She paused, smirking like a cat, arms crossing one over the other, "Other than what we've all been seeing recently whenever a door is closed, I mean."

Oh, stupendous, even the humans were joining in, the femme mused grudgingly as she cupped her servos behind her to try to seem unaffected. Starscream would be the death of her, that was all there was too it. She would die not in battle, but by humiliation alone, at this rate. If she was honest, she was at least as prideful as the seeker or even the rookie, just in different ways. She was easily embarrassed, most of all when it came to the winged bot. Her pride rested in her stoic, confident, and unmovable stability... which had been taking a lot of hits lately. Why did she let him do this to her?

Smokescreen's optic ridges rose a bit, his small, numbered, door mounts shifting as his curiosity turned morbid, "What is that supposed to mean? What have I missed?"

Jack stood up from the couch to stand beside Miko, "You guys are about the only ones that haven't seen enough to know." His eyes locked onto the seeker with seeming accusation.

Starscream's expression turned to a sneer as he tossed a look back at Smokescreen, "Don't worry, it's nothing you would understand, Autobot. I'm sure combat action is not the only kind you are unfamiliar with." His shoulder struts arched in a shrug, "Though, what models old enough do on their own time is hardly any of your-" His speech was cut off in a yelp of surprise as Skyfreeze reached her limit, unable to stand a second more, silencing the only mech she could with a hard twist of his wing.

She cleared her vents before speaking in a calm and even tone, "Events, on occasion, have been misinterpreted by some... However, these are simply jokes for amusement sake." She leaned closer to the mech, still holding his wing, "There is no reason to engage in further antics though, is there, Starscream?"

The seeker chuckled uneasily, his back struts arched awkwardly to give him room to move if she twisted any farther, "Well, a joke can be taken a little too far... at times. In which case, the matter is best dropped."

Her servos released their hold and she slid out of the bot-made triangle, "I believe it is time for me to go to recharge."

The group watched her as she moved away, some in slight surprise, and others in great amusement - She could feel eyes and optics drilling into her like torches. Oh, she did so hate this! It was just like her time when Starscream first came to work in the laboratory on Cybertron. He always did turn everything that could have been swept away in silence into a matter of public interest. That was likely thanks to his tendency to enjoy the spotlight more than he ought.

Ratchet stepped closer to the group as she continued to retreat from them, "Speaking of recharge, you three have school in the morning."

"Oh, c'mmon, Ratch, who cares!" Miko whined, stretching like a cat over the railing, "We don't care about that stuff. Just let us all skip tomorrow!"

"Oh no! You kids have to keep your grades up." He paused, sounding more like a sirely figure by the second, "And don't think I did not hear about your grades dropping recently!"

It was Rafael's turn to make a comment, "How could they not when your help with the projects nearly exploded the school? Teachers are touchy about that stuff." The young one grinned, adjusting his glasses on his nose, brown hair swaying with a tip of his head.

"Yeah, so really, you owe us a day off, Ratchet!" Miko persisted coyly.

Skyfreeze's speed picked up to a near trot now that they all seemed to be looking elsewhere, not watching enough to notice her desperation. The hallways never seemed so far away until she needed it to be closer. There really was only so much she could endure of that. Feeling vulnerable... it did not set well with her. Her systems were so stressed she would start receiving warnings over her screen any minute. Every cable in her body was trembling with unattended tension that was verging on panic. Everything was going wrong and she was getting so emotional. She was not allowed to feel! What was she doing? She had to get a hold on herself before she made a mess of everything. Her programming was screaming at her for the over use of emotional swing that she was not at all used to. Emotionless, she had to remember that, had to, had to! She could not show any further vulnerability to them or she would destroy everything she was working for. Skyfreeze had to focus on something, anything to calm her.

Her vents began to cycle to cool her overheating systems. She could hear a bit of the humans still pleading their case with the old model but it was a failing and hopeless plight. The Autobots were shockingly different with humans than they were with other robots. They had all taken on the roll of caretaker for the children, almost seeming like one large mismatched family. Her spark longed to join in on such a feeling but she had far too much to hide for such an indulgent act. With all the things she hid from them, it was little wonder the Prime had no faith in her. It was amazing Starscream still trusted her considering he was skilled at picking up a liar.

Traveling deeper into the base gave her some relief, glad she was finally away from all optics. Still, her processor inevitably traveled back to her newly acquired information from the talk on the cliff. Her slim peds hardly lifted off the ground, simply shuffling her forward as her servo moved to rest over her spark. She should have known everyone was dead considering none of them were fighters. Those in her lab were passive, quiet, and even weak robots. Even knowing that, she had hoped so much that they survived somehow. It was hard to take in the knowledge that they were all gone now. None of her friends from that place were online. Cybertron was gone and so were those she used to care about. Was this feeling grief? She tried hard never to allow this feeling into her system since she knew fully well it was a weakness.

"I should have known, hope is a futile emotion that can only be crushed." Her helm drooped as she shook it.

"Hope may seem futile at times," A deep voice rumbled from a doorway behind her, "but it is what keeps all of us moving forward. Faith in something worth believing is never really futile, Skyangel. Hope gives all of us a reason to awaken."

Her pedes whirled her around, back struts hitting the wall to keep her from falling over with the violent action, "Optimus!" She whispered, tipping her helm low in humiliated respect, "P-please forgive me, I was unaware of your presence."

"There is nothing to forgive. However, I hope you come to think differently in the future. Hope may not always be brought to fruition but it is not without value." His huge round optics seemed to look right into her spark without judgement or malice, looking with eyes like Primus himself.

Part of her wanted to lash out at those words but another part of her wanted to embrace them. The Autobot before her had suffered as much as anyone, if not even more than most. If anyone had a reason to give up it was him. She could not lash out at such a gentle spark no matter how much she wanted to. His words went against everything she had ever been told in her life cycle, but somehow they seemed so true. Just now though, she was no ready to listen. Instead, she nodded before fleeing down the hallway. If she stayed with the Prime much longer he would have her crying at his feet like a sparkling. Her emotions did not need any more help spinning out of control.

Earlier in the day, before she left with Arcee, they had given her a room to stay in other than Starscream's. She fully intended to use it and hide herself away in it until she could be calm. Of course, she had other ideas for it as well. Once they were all in recharge, she would use the room for privacy. It being a storage room, it already had some of her needed items provided. There would be nothing in it that could be weaponized, but the little scientist was not in need of a weapon at this time. She had something else to do for the moment. Thankfully, throwing herself into her work never failed to calm her and bring her focus back.

* * *

Megatron hovered over Soundwave's shoulder plate as he examined the screen. His optic ridges were turned down into a thoughtful frown as he read. No matter how many times he read the information he still could not believe it. His third had outdone himself this time. It must have been tedious to sift through so much old information and find files this ancient or hidden. Just now, he did not even care that this search had left no time for him to decode the Iacon coordinates, this could almost be better if it held any truth. Coupled with the new information Soundwave produced though, it really did seem likely.

"You have checked your information, I assume." Megatron knew he did not have to ask, but did so anyway.

The thin, reflective, pointy helm dipped once in confirmation.

The gladiator took a few steps from the console, ignoring the slight limp he was walking with. He had no need to hide it in front of Soundwave as he did with all the others. In this case, he did not fear anything at all would come with showing weakness. The mech likely would pick up on it anyway, even if he did try to hide it. The Prime really had gotten him this time. It was a lucky blow, but still! He was a little glad this set of coordinates was on hold. He knew the Prime had his servos full as well with other issues so they would still be on even ground in the decoding.

"What of the orb Knock Out reported the femme having?" The leader slowly moved to lean against cold metal the wall for support.

Using the voice of one of the Vehicon's, the dark mech gave his answer, the sound line running over his mask, "I am unable to give information on the orb, Sir. We only know that it absorbed our fire. For all we know, it is not even Cybertronian."

The gladiator nodded his helm slowly, slanting red optics gleaming with annoyance, "If you can find out what it is, do so! I do not want that femme _or_ that orb in Optimus' hands for very long!" His voice had turned to a growl even though he knew it would not frighten the mech.

He loathed that the femme and whatever she had taken with her was with Autobots. His thick and sharp claws made white scratches over the metal as he thoughtfully ran his servos over the wall. Even if Soundwave was wrong about these finding, he still wanted her here. If nothing else, he would drag out answers from her directly. Once, he had taken her spark, and he would do it again! Her life was his no matter what. He always finished what he started. Had Knock Out and Dreadwing not been careless, he would have her now. He went to all the trouble of setting a trap for her too. If you wanted something done right, you had to do it yourself!

"Soundwave, when you get the next set of coordinates decoded, be sure that the troops all know that I want the femme_ and_ the relic! The next bot that lets her escape dies!"

While he did not know what the new relic would be, he knew he had to get his hands on the femme before the Autobots discovered what she was carrying. It would only be a matter of time before they discovered it and something as important as that could not fall to them! He alone would posses that and use it as he saw fit! Once he got his claws on her she would wish she had remained offline! This time would be much worse for her, he would make sure of it. If she thought the last time was bad, she should see what he had planned for her now! He would never let her escape him again! She betrayed him once, but this time she had gone too far! She joined the Prime himself and he knew she intended to use what she had, though he did not know for what purpose.

That femme always had a plan brewing behind those pretty optics. Looking into her blue pools was like looking into Starscream's, only worse, she hid her plotting better. Hiding his true intentions was something Starscream had never learned to do. He was readable even if he was not fully predictable. Skyfreeze, on the other hand, never tipped her hand. She played her cards close to the chassis, never revealing them until her plans were set into place. The only way he caught her last time was by forcing her hand and giving her a deadline she would have to move on. She would be smarter this time, but so would he.

That was the trouble with beating bots like that, they always learned from their mistakes. He would just have to do something else to ensure his traps worked again. He could rise to the challenge and think outside the box. He would get the Prime, the Autobots, and the femme this time! They would taste his rage without question!

"Lord Megatron!" Came a reluctant Vehicon's voice as the bridge door swished open.

Instantly the warlord was standing tall as if nothing in the world could throw him off, "What is it?" The sharpness of his voice clearly made the drone want to shrink back but it stood still.

"Knock Out has news, my lord."

"Very well!" Megatron's sharp optic ridges turned up with interest, "Have him report to the bridge."

* * *

There were a few things she still needed to complete the mixture, but she would have to get them after she was sure everyone was in recharge. This might not win her any battles, but it would ease her processor considerably to know that she had done it. This little act was more for her own desire and less for self preservation. Later, she would create something else as a safeguard for herself, but not yet. Putting these improvised chemicals together might make it slightly less potent, but she was sure it would be nearly full strength. The femme ran a slender servo down her faceplate as she blinked her optics a few times. She would be sneaking around though so she hoped they did not catch her. Explaining what she was doing did not seem like the best idea considering this was best if it went unnoticed by anyone. Things could go rather poorly if they found out before she had completed it, the way her luck went. It would not bode well for her next set either. If she waited until it was late enough though, she could manage it undetected.

The thump of pedes in the hallway moving toward her door made her panic, swiftly moving to hide everything out of sight. No matter who was at the door, she did not want any of them to see this. Glass bottles clanked together as she swiftly shoved them onto a shelf behind a few data pads. The sound of the pressurized door hissing from being opened hit her audios like a scream as she scrambled to get to the other side of the room. She was forced to leave the tools she had been using out on the table but there was no time to hide them save a few she still had in hand and another bottle of chemicals to hide behind a box.

"This does not look like recharge to me, or has no one told you how a recharge works?" A sultry voice met her as she turned to face the door again, "You see," The seeker continued with a possibly flirtatious grin, "you normally have to be relaxing, commonly in a berth, optics closed, for recharge. I see none of that happening here."

Her optics traveled behind the seeker, noticing Smokescreen in the doorway briefly before the door closed again, "What brings you here, Star?"

"Can't a mech come visit his femme before recharge?" He shrugged playfully, eyeing her in fake seduction, "They let me come."

Skyfreeze glared slightly, caught on one part of his rambling, "When did I become 'your femme' in this situation?" She took a step forward assertively, "Have I ever belonged to anyone?"

He chuckled darkly, vocalizer rumbling with the vibration, "I have come closer than anyone alive or dead, haven't I?"

She vented in a show of irritation, chin lifting in a challenge, "Hardly. I am not so easily controlled."

His pointed pedes moved him forward boldly, "Did I say it was easy?" He grinned, optics narrowing suggestively.

Her optics rolled, knowing she was not going to win this battle. This mood meant she should give up. He was in rare form, it seemed, even rare for him. Any other mech talking that way to her would have lost an optic... then again, she might not even give a reaction of any nature to anyone else, that would be too telling. He was far more lively than she expected. Perhaps she should be glad of it, glad he seemed so feisty rather than sullen. It did seem off though. She could not understand the change in him. When she awakened, it had been hard for her to take in everything that happened while she was away. She understood his sadness, but this... He seemed so upset earlier, but now he seem... fine or possibly even invigorated. That was a bit harder to understand but she supposed it was better than mourning over the past. It did light the fire of suspicion in her though. There had to be a reason for the mood shift.

Skyfreeze leaned back against the cluttered tables behind her, her servos curling around the edge as she rested her lower back against it. "So, what has gotten into you? You seem a bit more snappy and lively that you did on the rocks."

"What do you mean? I am always vivacious and spirited, am I not?" His streamline helm tipped her way, his derma parting in an arrogant simper.

Her upper frame tilted forward slightly as she leveled him with a sneer, "I mean, you practically made a full about-face in attitude. It makes me wonder what got into you, or what you are plotting in that handsome processor." Skyfreeze's faceplate sobered, "We both have a lot to think about. I expected you might be upset over it. It is a bit confusing. Not that I don't want you to be alright, it just makes me wonder why."

"Because, Sky, even when everything you ever had is taken, you either break or build yourself up again. The universe eventually rewards those who persist, even if it takes a while to reap the favor." He paused, ruby optics softening slightly, "It gave you back to me, right?"

His servo reached toward her slowly, begging for her to come to him. Her processor told her not to heed his show of affection, not getting a real answer to what he was plotting, but she did not have it in her spark to refuse. Obligingly, her pedes moved her closer toward him, her servo extending to grasp his. Her spark fluttered a little as she saw the shift in his optics, the gentleness fading to a peculiar and unreadable one. That was one thing about this mech, she never knew what to expect from him from one moment to the next. At times he could be so gentle, others he could be almost frighteningly bold. When he gave her looks like that she always knew he was scheming. His optics migrated down to their cool servos linked between them, tangling together the way they sometimes held hands on Cybertron. She remembered that, how he liked doing that - Sometimes to embarrass her, but sometimes just because.

Without pulling his servo from hers, he leaned forward, catching the point of her chin in his free one. He tilted her helm back slowly to look her deep in the optics. She could see the reflection of her glowing cerulean orbs in his carmine ones as she stared at him, confused. Before she could react, his derma were pressed to hers, the servo at her chin moving to possessively press her against his chassis. She reflexively shifted her body back to gain some distance from the unexpected advance but he would not let her. It was almost painful the way he held her so tightly.

She stopped pulling back experimentally to see if he would loosen his hold, leaning into him instead. He relaxed, melding with her as she slowly returned his affection. These affectionate shows had been rare even when they were on Cybertron. Allowing him so close had never been easy for her with the vulnerability involved from such a thing. It had been a very long time since they had been close and she hardly knew how it happened at all. In an Autobot base, this was a horrible idea, but she found it hard to pull away. Even now, he was the only one she trusted enough to let this close. She began to feel his electromagnetic field as he allowed it to flourish beyond his spark chamber in a rare show, teasing at her - She instinctively ebbed hers deeper into her spark to avoid him getting to it. Even in just the small licks of the fields together would hold too much information for her to dare allowing hers out. He felt desperate or even needy as he kissed her, pulling her flush against him, servo traveling over her. There was the faintest of glows behind his chassis from the surge of plasma he gave her in the exchange. It did answer her question though, he was planning something, she felt the smugness of plotting in this field. One talon dipped into the seam of her hip joint as a rumbling purr rose in his throat. Without intending to, she arched against his touch, which only made his engine kick up. If the Autobots walked in no this, by the All Spark, she would ring his neck!

Her hands traveled up his chassis to clutch at his neck as she felt his glossa trace over her bottom derma, begging entrance. She could not get over the fact that he allowed his electromagnetic field to reach for her since such an act betrayed every raw emotion a Cybertronian felt if let past the safety of the spark - He never exposed himself that way. Her derma parted slowly to accommodate his request, fans hitching slightly as the feeling of his smooth glossa tasting every curve of her oral vent washed over her. Her processor struggled to remain clear as the haze of indulgence played at her. His glossa flicked playfully at hers, trying to tease it forward, encouraging her to follow. Their glossa circled each other as his servos again traveled down her back strut and onto her hip joints. Their mouths parted as he hitched her knees up around him to sit her on the table. The parting was short lived as his derma returned to ravish her, occasionally nipping at her neck cables before returning again. She moaned into his oral vent, pressing against him, arms curling around his shoulder armor. Why he had suddenly changed, she had no idea, but she found herself unwilling to stop him.

A greedy servo moved to her breastplate in unmasked desire that made her intakes hitch. He kissed her neck cables and she could feel his derma curl in a smile as he unshuttered his optics slightly. He nuzzled the side of her helm and whispered her name with a breathy rasp. At long last, logic and reason began to kick up in her processor. Her frame tensed against him as his talons drew little circles over her plating. It did not take much to know what he was trying to convince her to permit his access to. That, however would allow him more than slight access to her emotions during the merge, handing him carte blanche to access her system, which would be more than a slight mistake. If he picked up on her guilt or even fear from all the lies she would be hard pressed to talk her way out of explaining anything further. Who could say what he might catch in a merge. It was much too vast a risk to take in such a time. She did not even know why he was behaving like this so suddenly. Her processor began to remind her of all the reasons this was a chaotically bad idea, one other being what she had hidden on this very table. He would find it in short order if she did not end this. Explaining that even to him might prove less than advantageous considering his odd moods.

"Starscream," She used her hand placement on his shoulder struts to slide herself off the table and twist from his grasp, "This is not the best time... and very much not the best place. I seem to remember you mentioning listening devices earlier."

Turning with her, he snickered and snaked his lissome arms around her again, "They already accuse us of it, why not prove them right?"

"Or," She gently pushed his arms away, "we could prove them wrong." Her peds moved her back a few steps for safety.

His optic ridges turned down in a frown, arms sliding swiftly away from her, "Fine." He turned his back to her, wings flexing in annoyance.

Skyefreeze hesitated instantly, peds moving her back and forth in place, "Wait..." She moved in, helm resting against his back, arms coiling around his waist, "Don't be angry! It's not that I don't want to, it just seems like we should pick a better time than this. I mean, any of them could walk in or something. Wouldn't that be awkward?" She was starting to babble and she knew it.

She never really could stand to have him upset with her, not really, most of all now. There were times they argued and went at each other like sparkling, but it was more in fun than anything. The torment he put her through was his own very odd way of proving their friendship but she had always given him her own brand of revenge. To have him really become angry with her was a different matter totally. Seeing him angry with her was almost frightening. She hated it when he cut himself off from her, loathed it. When he pulled away it always made her feel strange, alone somehow. When he did that it made her want to beg him for forgiveness even though she knew such a thing was weak. Being in his arms felt safe and welcome while being at his back felt void and vacant. In an attempt to gain forgiveness, she filled her electromagnetic field with as much of an apologetic thrum as she could, a little of her worry and loneliness accidentally bleeding into it was well when it branched fleetingly from her spark chamber to lick at his back behind his spark. She took it back swiftly when she noticed more than the apology got through, but he did not see to react so he might not have noticed.

Without warning, he took her by the wrist, pulling her to his front, sneering at her, "You are so easy, Angel." He planted a long kiss to her before pulling back again, "You never fail to fall for those kinds of things. If I was not a patient mech when it comes to you, I would never have let you be my adoring companion this long."

"Smart aft," she growled playfully as she leaned into him, not caring so much what he did now as long as they could return to normal.

"I'm always at my best when you're around." He smirked darkly before letting go to head for the door. "See you when you wake up, my dear."

She found herself following him, not ready to let him go somehow even though she was the one that pushed him away, "Why did you come to see me? Do you need to talk to me about something?"

"We can talk later." He cast her a sly look over his shoulder as the sensor of the door triggered it to open, "I mostly just came to say goodnight since I will miss having you in my berth tonight."

Smokscreen shot glances between the two as the seeker drifted by him, almost seeming to be embarrassed to have heard the last part. He gave her a slight awkward wave before following the older mech. Blue optics narrowed as the door swished closed, her fingers curling into fists. That slagger just had to do that! Her energon boiled slightly at the knowledge that Starscream fully intended his guard to hear those parting words. For all she knew, that was the plan all along! Perhaps he had come here intending for the Autobot to hear more than that. If that was why he came, she would slap him next she saw his face. He could just stay gone if that was how he wanted to play! What was he trying to do anyway, put a claim on her so the mechs did not try to get close? Was he just being possessive or was it something else he was after? Perhaps he wanted to establish himself as her lover so no one would question their whispers or closeness? She had no idea but he was up to something she was highly unlikely to be happy with, as always. She hated being in the dark! See if she held his servos again!

* * *

When she tried to open her door after she deemed it safe she had found it locked. It really was a good thing she was skilled with code breaking or her entire night would be ruined. As it was, the refining of the chemicals had taken longer than she expected, even with the Medic's tools. She tilted the glass bottle back and forth the create a swirling of the green liquid inside. Just to be sure, she had run a test to ensure the balances were correct, which they were. Had it not been for Ratchet's own chemicals and tools though, that would not be the case. She would not be getting much in the way of recharge tonight which meant tomorrow would be an irritant. At least it was finished though. Her servos rested over her tired optics for a moment before she forced herself to stand from the stool. This, however, was the first step toward her overall goal, this end of it anyway.

Her optics shuttered slowly as she soundlessly vented some air out her mouth. The base was deathly quiet with the humans gone and every other bot in recharge. It gave her a rather ill and eerie feeling, which she fully ignored. There was no reason to indulge in foolish uneasiness with a task to be finished. Her pedes moved silently, taking painfully strong care to step lightly as she made her way to the Med bay. She would not be swayed from her task easily, she was better than that, stronger than that. She realized earlier in the day that she had to do this, and knew what she needed to do after. Bulkhead was still being kept here, which was lucky for her. Finding his room for this would have been more than a helmache. The machine he was connected to made a slight beeping noise every few seconds, which set her further on edge but ensured he was less likely to hear her. She timed her steps to the beeps, hiding herself in the darkness. She only found him thanks to the light of the machines and computers dull glow. She took a quick look at the display to see his status.

The injector was in hand, formula inside as potent as she could get it considering his size. Moving to his feet, her optics traveled to his wide, rounded faceplate for a final check to ensure he was asleep. The weakest place on him was clearly his legs, so that would be her points of injection. She considered simply mixing it in with the chemicals already being pumped into his system but decided it was best not to dilute it too much so it would be sure to work faster, not to mention she did not want to leave traces. She had a little bit of education as a medical bot, not much, but enough to know how to inject smoothly. If she did it right, he should not feel a thing. The chemicals should work rather swiftly, ending this suffering of his. Slowly, she leveled the injector and slid its point into the leg, pressing out half of the liquid. Moving as swiftly as care allowed, she sank the tip into the other leg and squeezed out the rest. Thank Primus this was over! Task finished, she hurried to the door again, not fond of being found in here in case the medic decided to make some rounds. She would clean and replace the injector before she returned to her room, but that would go quickly enough.

Her audios caught a sound to her right, her body tensed to react, but not in time. Something connected with her side, nearly ripping a few cables loose as her body flew backward. Her metal shrieked, sparks flying as she skidded harshly over the floor. Pain registered swiftly, pinging around inside her processor like a bullet. What hit her? She struggled to get her pedes under her, knees curling into position. Before she could manage to fully stand, her audios were rocked by the sound of something hitting her in the back of the helm. Her optics went offline as she crashed into the floor once again, an involuntary cry of pain rising from her as she hit. Her processor blinked out, instantly trying to reset when her head was smashed into the floor again. Panic was starting to flood her circuitry as she clawed blindly at the unknown force, desperately trying to get her optics back online. She tried to bring up her wings, tried to get a charge into them before realizing in cold terror that she could not do so. Her weapons were offline! She had nothing to defend herself with. What could only have been a giant ped crashed into her midsection so hard she let out another scream, whole body rocked from the impact.

She cried out again as a huge servo caught her by the faceplate and jerked her into the air. She clawed at it desperately, kicking wildly at anything. _Megatro_n! It was the one and only word flashing through her processor as she struggled, optics gearing to reset only to see darkness once they finally came back. Her spark was pulsing frantically in sheer unadulterated terror. He found her! But how? Unless... unless it was... But why? Why would he be here? She had done nothing against his orders, nothing! Why would he come for her now?

Her body flew through the air again and collided hard with the wall. Instinctively, she clung to it, pressing against it as if she expected it to allow her to hide. The thump of heavy steps made her cringe, system flinching with every sound. She pressed the side of her faceplate to the cool wall, willing her wings to come back online. Her processor spun wildly in an attempt to calculate a strategy against her attacker, but she was helpless without her wings, and she knew it all too well.

"Get away from me!" She attempted a growl but it came out sounding more like a whine.

A set of optics drilled her with boiling and murderous rage, a growl rising from the figure as a response. The deep sound made her want to scream, practically crawling out of her own metal as she struggled to differentiate the present from the past. Her body was reacting, anticipating the same pain she remembered receiving after that sound from a mechs vocalizer. She wanted out of here more than she had wanted anything in a while but the only way out was past him. Without a way to defend herself, she would never make it that far.

**AN: Thank you for reading to this point! I really hope it is interesting enough for you. I tossed in a little fluff but things are getting to the action. Shortly, things will start moving quickly and you will find out all kinds of things. I do have a plot, honestly I do! I hope you enjoy! Starscream and Skyfreeze's lives are about to get complex. I hope you guys don't find her annoying, I'm still unsure if she is so curled in all her secrets that she is easy to hate for it or not. She has her reasons whether they are right or not. You are welcome to hate her if you like, she is pretty messed up in the processor. **


	7. Restoration or Destruction

**Restoration or Destruction**

While it seemed the base was in silence, every Cybertronian asleep, that was far from the case. A red glowing orb sat on a table, a set of blue optics stared at it with distaste as he occasionally prodded it. The Prime sat at another table near his console, servos crossed under his chin as he contemplated the content of the screen. He occasionally broke the silence by tapping a few keys as he worked. The two seemed fulling in their own worlds as they each worked to understand fully different projects. While this did happen to be the Prime's residence, it was far more like an office than anything, and many projects were kept in the room. He tended to work on everything, recharging very little most nights. A snap of electricity zinged the dead air when the medic put one of the electric toys the children had left at the base against the orb. There was a puff of smoke as the human technology was dropped to the table, now useless and fully drained of energy.

Optimus looked up from his work at the sound, "Miko might not be happy about that."

Ratchet turned slightly to look at his leader, "I'm sure it was not important. It was just a... music something or other. Even Bulkhead can play music for her, so it hardly matters."

"Are you sure she did not _need_ that?" The Prime questioned in an inexplicably rare but subtle joke, playing off what he heard so many times from his old friend when Bulkhead was around.

The subtlety was not lost on the medic, but he ignored it, "I will tell her Smokescreen did it, how about that?"

Were he any other bot, he would have laughed, but Optimus' mild amusement only showed in his optics.

"Anyway, Optimus, this thing is really starting to worry me!" Ratchet's vocalizer volume had gone up with the words.

"How so? Will you require Skyangel to demonstrate it tomorrow?" There was no hint of worry in the leaders vocalizer, which only served to make the medics words more exaggerated.

"How so? I'll tell you how! It sucks enery from anything that hits it, which could be hazardous if any of us happened to fall on it or set it off by accident! For all we know, it's like the spark extractor!" He shook his helm is irritation, "All I can tell you so far is that this is not from Cybertron, or if it is, I have never seen it. If it is from our technology, it is a new, and potentially terrible development! For all we know, this is ready to take all our sparks if we try to use it."

"If you have doubts about it's safety to us we could lock it away. Perhaps we could seek Agent Fowler's knowledge on its source." Optimus tipped his helm back slightly, "At the very least, it should be unable to drain humans of energy but I do not enjoy the thought of handing anything dangerous over to them."

"It might not matter what we do with it! I have no idea what it is really capable of! I can't believe you allowed her to bring this into our base!"

Optimus eyed Ratchet calmly as the other grew progressively louder, "What would you have had me do? Send her back to her exploded ship with it, Ratchet?" His voice held no ire at all, more of a simple question than sarcasm.

"Maybe! It might have saved us a lot of trouble! We could just let Megatron have the helmache! We have enough problems as it is!" The old model was beginning to pace around the table.

"Now Ratchet, I hardly think you mean that. I have never known you to turn away anyone in need. She has requested nothing more than to stay with us. Thus far, she has been attempting to be useful."

"Useful!" The medic blurted out in a huff, "More like a walking infestation of problems! She is as bad as Starscream!" Ratchet was beginning to make wild motions with both servos as he spoke, a blur of white and orange, "_And_, since I am already being blunt, I might as well say it all! You know I would never go against your orders, but frankly, I have to tell you I have not seen optic to optic with you lately! If I did not know better, Optimus, I would say you were slipping."

Optimus sat calmly and stoically taking in every word, vocalizer holding no hint of anger when he spoke, "What has you so upset with me, old friend?"

Ratchet faltered slightly, seeming to regret some of his word choices, but he persisted anyway, "Well, Starscream, for one! Even though you assigned him a guard, you allow him to move about our facility freely, without so much as stasis cuffs. Granted, he currently holds little threat without a T-cog, but he is far from harmless! I shutter to think what would happen if he slipped away from Smokescreen long enough to call the Nemesis with our location!"

The Prime nodded but seemed intent on allowing his medic to continue without offering a defense.

"Then there is Skyangel, Optimus!" Ratchet's optics were growing wider by the second as his passion grew, "Putting aside the fact that she knows Starscream, there are still the issues of her known and highly questionable activity on Cybertonher, and the fact that her wild claims are beyond belief. Pair that with her sudden arrival here with unsatisfactory answers as to how she acquired guarded Decepticon intelligence and it makes an unappealing picture. Yet, you allow her so much freedom as well! You only just assigned Bumblebee to her!"

Optimus knew the medic well enough to know he just needed to blow off steam and speak his mind for a while. He would never even consider truely questioning him or going against and order. He was an old a true friend that had been with him a very long time. Ratchet had a temper and holding it in only made it build with time to make it worse, so times like these were necessary for him. The Prime never took it personally, he knew he did not have to. Once he felt listened to, the medic's temper always cooled. In times his temper lead him to be out of line, he had yet to fail to give an apology later. His spark was in the right place and always would be. He was hard on the outside but it was only to hide the tenderness inside. He trusted Ratchet more than anyone he had left.

* * *

The world was still spinning and all she could do was cling to the wall in hopes that it would stop eventually. The hits to her helm did nothing if not impair her ability to think clearly and her bodies grip on gravity. Stability was not a word that described her in any way just now. Her only relief came in realizing which bot had her trapped. Knowing did nothing to gain her salvation, but at least she knew. Her legs were twitching, perhaps from damage or from the overwhelming urge to flee. She could attempt to run but she had no faith in her ability to stay upright that long as her processor was still trying to restart, warnings flashing in her HUD to alert her of her damage, but she ignored them, not wanting to focus on those at this point. She had to focus on staying alive at the moment.

"What was in that injector?" A guttural vocalizer barked the question.

"Only something to ease the pain!" She answered swiftly, not intending to keep him waiting, "I used to develop substances to ease robots recovery from injuries back on Cybertron. Before the lab was destroyed, we developed something for Medics to give the injured that would speed the recovery and lessen the pain."

A huff of anger was his clear indication of disbelief, "Of course! Why didn't I think of that? Decepticon's are always sneaking in to give aid to the injured while Autobots are in recharge!"

She let out a squeak of static as the mech reached down to pluck her off the ground, heaving her in another mighty throw that had her suddenly smacking against the door frame - For as well as she flew, she really should have been a flier. Granted, getting here was her goal, but that was not how she hoped to arrive, pain was never her first choice. She could taste energon in her oral cavity but she was not sure where it was coming from. Her HUD was flashing more warnings but she had no time for that. When she moved to stand the pain swarmed her neuronet vengefully but she scurried out into the larger room anyway. At least she could see out here, which would really help in avoiding more hits. Ignoring the pain, she tried to run, but was swiftly stopped by a blast of blue exploding against her leg - She crumpled to the ground again. If she had the processor power or was in less pain, she might have mused over the fact that that leg must have had some invisible target painted on it. Every time, they always got that leg, it was never going to fully heal. However, humor of coincidence was far from her thoughts, what was really on her mind was how similar these sensation were, her own little trip back to the past.

She flipped onto her aft, wings scraping useless at her sides, so she could at least see the next blast coming rather than be hit in the back. The heavy thuds of his pede fall fell into sink with her spark beats, making her cringe with every thud. Those pede thumps were almost as bad as if Tarn were around to manipulate her spark. Her frame trembled as she scooted away, metal creaking loudly in protest as it was dragged over the floor in her retreat. Her optics were wide, almost too wide to remain safe for her casing. Feeling those hands on her sent her jolting back to the last times she had been held that way, crashing the terror of the past into the present in a collision that rocked her processor into near incoherence. She knew the feelings she was having now all too well. The flash backs did not happen so much if there were multiple attackers, but situations like these got into her head and rattled her down to the spark. Her one and only thought was getting away from those horrible hands and that blaster, the past and present largely bleeding into one in her sight.

Her fans wheezed in fear as she struggled to get her legs under her, suddenly feeling as if they were disconnected the way they slipped uselessly against the floor in failure to function. It did not help that her helm was still spinning from the previous blow, a few systems still in reset. Her movements turned frantic as he began to move closer, rounded green hammer held threateningly in ready for a swing.

"What did you give me, 'Con?" Bulkhead's thick bass vocalizer rumbled at her as he limped ahead.

She twitched, body trying to move her in at least three directions at once, "I already t-told you!"

"And I said, " He growled, hammer shifting up for a hit as he came, "I don't believe you!"

Skyfreeze let out a cry, forgetting to care about her composure entirely, finally finding her pedes and springing back as the swing came at her. There was a flash of orange and white that slid over her peripheral as she moved. Red flames were all she saw as something caught her, holding her firm from her retreat. Her body struggled against it by sheer instinct but a huge hand pressing her to the arm plating stopped her out of fear of being crushed. She quivered in the grip but stopped seeking an escape as the large bot held her in place, both arms holding her where she was. Unlike the one she was running from, this mech's energy field held no desire to harm her. It was an improvement at least. Her optics snapped back at the sound of grinding metal.

"Let me go, Ratchet!" Bulkhead growled as the medic used himself to keep the mech from advancing, "She's dead! I may not have much left in me, but I can still crush a bug!"

"Bulkhead, calm down and just tell us what happened!" Ratchet did not move, servos still firm on the mechs huge arms.

"She poisoned me, that's what!" The green mech spit the words out at her as if he wished they could kill. "And before I go down, so does she!"

Skyfreeze's vocalizer caught at her first attempt to speak, but she pushed past it, helm shaking vigorously, "No, no! I did not poison him!"

The loudness had drawn out the yellow mech and he swiftly moved to Ratchet's side, clueless as to the situation, but sensing where he was needed. The femme clutched at Optimus's tree trunk of an arm, desperate to recover her senses and even more desperate for protection. She was not interested in being torn apart, once was more than enough. The Prime was her only chance and she knew it. If anyone would grant her mercy, it would be the leader. Even like this, that hammer could still get him past the other two mechs, and the wrecker was known for his temper in battle. The only safe place was with the Prime.

"I s-sw-wear it was not harmful!" Her metal rattled a bit as her frame gave little trembles as her system tried desperately to calm her, "I used to w-work in a lab and I only gave you something to help with recovery!"

Ratchet turned his helm to drill her with a glare, "What _did_ you give him?" That was two unconvinced at her words.

She was swiftly loosing protectors and she was only too keenly aware, "We only developed it a short time before the lab was destroyed. It had only been circulated to a few medics on the front lines at the time, but it had great success, cutting pain and healing time by half in most cases."

The orange and white medic let go of Bulkhead to turn on her fully, "I heard nothing of it!"

Skyfreeze pressed back instinctively against Optimus, useless wings quivering together as she stared into angry eyes before her, "I told you! It had only been given out a few solar cycles before our lab was destroyed! But I am telling the truth! You might still be able to find it in the old records!"

"I know how to get the truth out of a 'Con!" Bulkhead snarled as he made another lunge forward, only hindered now by Bumblebee.

Ratchet whirled and grabbed the large mech, "Bulkhead, stop! I will be the one to get it out of her, do not worry! Nothing is going to happen now but you returning to the Med bay!" The medic caught the blue femme racing into the room and enlisted her instantly, "Arcee! Help us get Bulkhead back to the Med bay! I need to check him now!"

"What the frag is going on here?" Arcee spat as she grabbed an arm that was about as big around as she was, "Bulkhead, what are you thinking? You'll make yourself worse!" Of course, she did not know what worse was in this situation.

"Bulkhead, stand down and return to the medical room with Ratchet." The Prime ordered, but seemed unheard past the rage filled mech.

"Let me at her!" Bulkhead bellowed, ignoring everything else, optics glued to Skyfreeze.

Ratchet turned enough to fix the Prime with a weighty glare, "Optimus, get the truth out of her before I don't have time to stop whatever she did! If you don't, I will."

Being injured, three against him was enough to force him back toward the Medical room. He was strong even now. Skyfreeze watched in stunned silence as he was slowly pulled farther and farther away. The Prime never let go of her, but she was not asking him to considering it was not her own legs holding her up at the present. This was not at all how she planned this to work out. So much for keeping a secret. Her processor could not even fathom how things had gone so wrong. This was supposed to be an easy step, for Primus sake!

* * *

Starscream burst from the hallway, glowing ruby orbs flitting around the room wildly until they spotted Angel clinging to the Prime's arm as if it was the only thing keeping her up. The sheer terror in her optics was poorly veiled, focusing on the wall only to cast fleeting and fearful glances at the green mech as Ratchet, Arcee, and Bumblebee struggled to calm him and keep him in place. He had never seen such an expression on Skyfreeze before, not even while caught with her in between battles. The confidence she always projected was faded dim, leaving fear and desperation alone to fill her electromagnetic field. He had never seen her cower or cling to anyone, never allowing such a drastic show of vulnerable terror, let alone allow her field to pulse out. The hulking green monster was clearly the instigator, still fixated on her as he tried to get to her past the Autobot's holding onto him.

The flashy white, red and blue mech at his side made no move to rush the group, seeming utterly confused by the scene and unsure what to do. He was still young and it showed in everything he did. Starscream was lucky, having caught Smokescreen's attention before he passed his room. All the noise and a familiar sounding scream had him pounding on his locked door frantically. By all rights, he was fortunate the youth was his guard considering an older mech would have known better than to let out a prisoner during a time of obvious trouble. This kid was a gift from Primus.

Starscream's faceplate turned with his deep snarling question, "What did he do to her?"

Optimus' and Skyfreeze's optics snapped to him in tandem. She looked at him, pleading wordlessly, too frightened to speak. The femme seemed ready to run to him, but could not hope to make it that far. He had absolutely no idea what was happening but he hardly cared. No one, no one was allowed to do this to his Skyfreeze! He was nearly shaking with rage as he surged forward, conflicted on just where to go. Logic dictated that his first desire to go for Bulkhead and rip out his optics was the least advantageous, but it was most tempting. The blundering fool was mainly back in the med bay now anyway - With those injuries, it was hard to fight three healthy bots. He could pursue them but stupidity was not in his coding, so he went for Angel instead, deciding it best to be near her to protect her. Weapons or not, he was quick with his talons, and very good at finding weak points. And the fact was, the Prime did not need to be holding her like that either, so he would put a end to that.

He was stopped short of reaching her by strong servos on both his upper arms, "Optimus," came a worried young voice, "What in Primus sake is going on?"

"The situation is not yet fully clear, but Bulkhead believes Skyfreeze poisoned him." The Prime tightened his grip on her enough that she flinched, "We do not yet know all the facts but we must arrive at them swiftly."

"I did not harm him, it was medicine we developed! I will surrender the formula to Ratchet as proof of what I say!" Sky sounded desperate but she seemed to be gaining courage, her energy field no longer pulsing at them, but hidden back within her chassis.

The seeker's processor worked over her words until realization dawned and he connected the dots. So that was what happened? That old chemical they developed back in the lab... of course she would still remember it. He had not thought of that in centuries. His optics narrowed as he swept the others with a grim stare. Why would she give that wounded mech something like that? It was safe and effective, so far as the test showed, but it was a waist on such a creature. What was she even thinking sneaking him anything? Was it just to help him? Perhaps, but Sky always had many reasons for what she did, so there had to be more. Considering she clearly had not gotten permission, it made him even more sure she had something else up her metal. A move like that was risky, no matter her reasons - Even he might not have been so reckless.

"You mean you will distract him long enough with nonsense so that Bulkhead dies!" Arcee emerged from the doorway and moved into the group once again, optics blazing, and blades noticeably extended, "You came in the dead of night to kill him, but you did not count on him coming online. I bet you were planning to do all of us in that way eventually, starting with the weakest one so it might seem like it happened naturally."

The blades were not lost on Angel either, and she shook her head swiftly, "No! I was only trying to assist-"

Skyfreeze went silent as a blade was rested just under her optic, the blue femme leaning in close, "Tell Ratchet what you really did or I will start carving!" She seemed eerily like the spider femme in that moment, "If you think I'm going to let you take any of us down like that, you're wrong!"

"Arcee, remain calm!" Optimus' words came out swiftly, moving as if to bring peace to the situation, but this situation would not be calmed easily.

Starscream had been motionless until now, catching his captor off guard as he twisted away and slashed at Arcee with his claws, "Get away from her! Don't you dare touch her, filthy Autobot!" He snarled loudly as the femme jumped back to avoid the hit. Did they really expect him to stand by and do nothing?

Smokescreen jolted forward to latch onto him again, but bulk and muscle did not always lead to the advantage. Seekers were known for fast reflexes, agility, and ease of motion. Twisting in place, Starscream's claws made a swift slice into the seam of the other mech's wrist join and well placed kick to disjoint his knee - It was nothing serious, just enough to be free from his hold momentarily, but it really felt good. Before he had time to gloat over the victory of the averted capture and energon tipped claws, he was forced to react again. Arcee was fast, like he was, and had blades to match his claws. She was a harder one to catch, which was proven by the long slash he now had across his chassis. He shot for her shoulder joint, seeking to hinder those fast reflexes of hers, talons sinking deep into the opening she gave him with her wide slash motion. Her other arm came down for a shot at his side, and he only just managed to catch it in his servos before the blade could sink home.

He yelped in surprise as his pedes were both jerked out from under him and he fell ungraciously to the floor on his front, sickening metal thunk following. The seeker thrashed as a far too heavy knee was ground into the center of his back strut, arms both ground roughly into the floor by strong servos coming over the top of him. The next he knew, Arcee was kneeling before him, blade at the delicate cords of his throat as Smokescreen held him fast. His red optics locked furiously with the femme's as she held his chin, wrist blade edging into his cables threateningly. Normally he would have been afraid, but rage held more sway over him for now.

"You two are going to tell us everything we want to know." Arcee nearly purred in a self assured tone, "Right now!"

A set of slender pedes hooked around the Autobot femme's neck and jerked, sending her sailing back into the Prime's huge armored legs. Skyfreeze thrashed and kicked wildly to keep the other down despite Optimus tightening his hold on her. The seeker watched with narrow optics as Arcee began slashing up at the offending pedes. He took note in the back of his mind that Sky was already leaking energon from one leg even though Arcee had not connected yet. The leader let out an obvious sigh, letting it be clear he was finished with the display. His silver faceplate was twisted into a serious frown, jerking Skyfreeze to one side, draping her body over his massive arm to hang her unbalanced off the ground while pulling Arcee off the floor in nearly the same motion. He held both femmes stationary as if it was all effortless - Skyfreeze stayed suspended in the air to balance uncomfortably, pedes kicking slightly in an attempt to find the floor again. Arcee looked ready to continue, but the large mech's radiating sense of authority was enough to still his subordinate with a glance of his optics. The Autobot leader was known for his patience but everyone had a limit. It was clear that the events of the evening were starting to rub his wires. He let them have their tussle, but he was the one ending this fight.

His deep voice boomed the order, "Enough!" It almost seemed like he was handling a group of fighting sparklings the way they all shrank into stilled silence at his word. "Smokescreen, subdue Starscream and return him to his cell."

A loud, but oddly familiar voice echoed suddenly through the base, "_What_ in the name of Abraham Lincoln is going _on_ in here?" A large set, dark, curly haired human bellowed as he pounded the railing near the human entrance.

All optics turned to him as one.

The human's dark eyes darted uncomfortably to the seeker, clearly remembering him well, "Prime, what are two 'Cons doing in your base?" His loose tie flopping as he leaned nearly all the way over the railing, "Has your security been breached? Do I need to alert the-"

"The situation is well under control, Agent Fowler. There is no current reason for alarm." The Prime sad rather flatly, obviously not pleased by the arrival of a new contender to toss into the mix of wild behavior he was dealing with.

"No reason for alarm?" Ratchet bellowed from the Med bay, "There is plenty of reason for us to be alarmed, and you are holding one of them as we speak!" The medic nearly flew at the group, arms waving in anger, "Make her talk, Optimus! We do not have time for any of this! Bulkhead is sedated but who knows how much time I have to fix this mess!"

With his attention being pulled in several directions, he was not focused on Smokscreen despite the mech's weight pressing into his back, rather, he was about to say a few choice words to the little group. Before the seeker had time to prevent it the other mech had his servos pinned over his head, a set of stasis cuffs taken from subspace and snapped over his wrists - He struggled, but it was too late. He gave a deep snarl as he was jerked un-sanctimoniously to his spiked pedes. Ruby optics narrowed first at the Prime, and then at the medic, before tossing the human a knowing glance of remembrance. Saying anything that was currently on his processor would have been ill fated timing, but he wanted to let the words out so badly. The seeker was seething as he looked at his friend, too afraid to move to escape, or perhaps to smart to resist. Anything he said might make this worse on her, and he no longer had much room to help her. If it were anyone but her, he might not even care, but it was her. There had to be something he could do. Smokescreen whirled him to the other direction fast enough that it nearly made him trip on his own peds before he was shoved toward the hallway roughly.

Spinning back, Starscream made a vain attempt to hit the other across the faceplate, "Don't touch me, you pitiful excuse for a mech!" His bound servos were flung to the side easily, earning him a glare from his guard.

"Don't push your luck." Smokescreen mumbled, grabbing the seeker's wings to use as a control to steer him back the way he wanted him. "You better behave now if you know what's good for you. See if I open your door again!"

"How did Starscream get in here, Prime?" The human persisted as the rookie roughly tugged at the large metal wings.

The seeker arched reflexively, delicate wings not used to being twisted that way. Even Megatron normally left them mainly undamaged because they were too necessary in a true seeker model, and hard to repair - Only if he was thinking of killing him did the bruit go for the wings with intent. Even if he could not fly, those wings were all he had and he was not keen on them being damaged. He growled a few protests, but stayed still in the mech's grip. Skyfreeze was finally let back onto the floor, but he noticed the Prime had locked his own set of stasis cuffs on her as well. Why he bothered to do that, who knew. It was not as if she posed a real threat.

"Forget Starscream!" Ratchet bellowed, glaring at the human, "I need the formula to the poison right now!"

"Poison?" The human repeated, finally getting the idea that there were more things in play that he first guessed.

"Yes, poison!" Ratchet pointed and accusing servos at Skyfreeze, "She poisoned Bulkhead!"

Angel's sweet but desperate voice reached the seeker's audios again, "I told you, I did nothing of the kind! He is in no danger at all!" Her vocalizer dipped into a near growl, "In fact, I likely did him more good than you have since he got that injury to start with!"

Smokescreen began tugging him backwards down the hall, using the wings as an inescapable tool to control his movements. He kicked backward with one pede as his other skidded loudly over the floor as he was dragged. He stiffened instantly when he heard his femme's startled gasp as the medic brought out one of his tools, aiming it at her neck cables as a threat. Starscream watched with wide optics as she put up her servos defensively, stepping back to gain some distance. The Prime clamped a hand down on the medic's shoulder, but was slapped away. The Prime may have been all for calm processors and mercy but not all in his group were so inclined.

"The formula, now! Before I misplace all my good will!" He continued forward, disregarding his leader's servos catching his arm once again. "This method worked well to get information from a Decepticon miner so it should work again."

"I'm with Ratchet!" Arcee stepped nearer the medic and brought up her arms to display her blades again, "She either talks or we have one less 'Con to watch!"

Starscream turned as much as he was able, latching onto the wall before he could be dragged out of sight, talons digging in hard enough to leave dents, "Wait, leave her alone! She's telling the truth, it's not poison! We did develop a new drug in the lab!" He was not leaving her to die in this place, oh no, he already lost her once! "I know about it as well, so I can tell you the formula too!"

That made his guard stop his desperate jerking motions, staring at him with unsure optics. Why or if she really used it, the seeker had no idea, but he would back her up the only way he had. It got their attention at least. The medic was staring, his blue flamed tool no longer aimed for Angel's cables. The ex-commander smirked a bit at the stares, optics challenging them all. Granted, he was only telling part of the truth, but how could they know that? He never had known the full formula or he would have recreated it long ago for himself. Skyfreeze was one of the few that knew the full, complete formula - Not because she had to, but because she never did anything without knowing everything. Most at the lab tended to just work on their own part, and how to test their sections, but not her, she wanted every detail. Why she would use their formula on an Autobot, he had no idea, but she must have. She was never a killer. Whatever she did do left her adversary some margin to live. Poison was not her style.

"Very well," The medic drilled him with hard blue optics, "You will each write out the chemical compounds in the solution. We will see how truthful you really are from that."

Smokescreen shoved him forward again, prodding him toward the Medical room as Ratchet motioned for he and Skyfreeze to be taken in with him. This could either go horribly wrong, or buy them each some time. Even if he did not know the full formula he could get close, and claim processor failure for what he did not know. As long as it earned them a bit of time, it did not matter. The medic would have to look over what they showed him no matter what, so it might buy them what they needed. At the least, it might calm the atmosphere. He just had to keep them busy long enough to biging even one of his multiple plots and plans of action.

Fowler cleared his throat anxiously, "Prime, I know you have a lot to deal with right now, but so do I." He shifted a little in place, "Silas is back, and it looks like he has teamed up with the 'Cons for real this time."

Arcee frowned, confused and displeased by those words as she stared at the human, "What? Why would they work with him after all he has done? Why would Megatron take him in?"

"I have no idea, but he seems to have teamed up with the one you call Breakdown. They broke into a government facility and were even seen getting a pick up from the 'Cons."

"Breakdown?" Arcee stepped closer to the platform, "That is impossible after what MECH did to him. He would never work with Silas."

"Are you certain of your information, Agent Fowler?" Even Optimus seemed confused by this news.

Starscream stiffened at those words even as he was assured into the medical room. Silas, oh how he hated that human! All the indignities he suffered because of MECH had cost him more than they could ever guess. This entire situation was their fault. He would not even be here if not for those slagging flesh bags. That human was more like Megatron than he even cared consider, though far more squishable. Those humans would have to be on his list for later. They would pay dearly at some point!

* * *

Computer keys clicked under blunt servos as the medic studied the formula. Starscream's formula had been incomplete, it seemed, which might answer the question of why he had never passed the so called drug to the Decepticon ranks. He had been keeping his optics fixed firmly on the screen, not daring to look back at his leader leaning up against a wall some distance behind him. Bulkhead was still heavily sedated but his vital signs were in fact showing improvement, no matter how much the doctor did not wish to admit it. He was glad to see it, but also miffed by it all at once. He did wish Optimus had something more pressing to do than keep a check on Bulkhead's stability though. Having him in here to watch was making the medic wild. There was really nothing any of them could do but wait considering they had nothing solid from Fowler to work with.

Optimus ordered the removal of the two prisoners some time ago, forcing them to be kept in the main cell until Ratchet could make a determination on the substance. Bumblebee and Smokesceen were guarding them directly so that no further issues could arise. From what he could see, the formula was not a poison at all, baring some slight similarity to the synthetic energon compound, though less advanced in nature. From what little was left in the injector they found, the substance matched the formula Skyfreeze had given.

The silence in the room was eroding him with guilt, nearly making him crawl out of his metal. He had not looked at the other once in all this time but he could just_ feel_ those optics drilling right through him as the leader observed from a distance, never saying a word. If only Optimus would yell at him! If he yelled it would feel more like he was justified. Yelling was something the medic could take and give back as good as he received, but the disappointed stinging of his leader's silence was killing him. As if he did not feel bad enough for blatantly being insubordinate and going above and beyond the scope of disrespect. He felt enough like a traitor as it was but not getting the satisfaction of being yelled at for it was torture. Any leader besides this one would have hung him by his glossa by now, not swept it aside as if all was forgiven. Oh, he hated that about Optimus, the mech made it feel so much worse by heaping goodness on his head. Slag, he wished the big guy would just get angry rather than looking sad and disappointed in him.

"Optimus," He had to say it before he went utterly mad with guilt, "I am sorry for my previous behavior. I was wrong to go against you that way, I just did not know what else to do and time was slipping away from me. "

"I know, old friend." Optimus crossed his servos over the glass of his cab quietly, "You were doing what you felt you must. Our comrades are everything to us in our small group. Seeing one such as Bulkhead, so strong and seemingly invincible, placed in this state is a blow to all of us. It is hardest on you, however, with the responsibility of caring for our health placed on your shoulders alone. I regret that you must bare such a heavy burden."

Now he was being defended by the very one that he wronged, that made it even worse, "I went about it wrongly in regards to my treatment of you, Optimus." His servo slid over his optic ridge in frustration, "However, this act proves my point about that femme. Keeping her here is even more of a danger than keeping Starscream. While it was not poison this time, she has still proven how dangerous she could be to us."

"Or how useful she could be." The Prime tilted his blue helm to the side thoughtfully.

Ratche finally whirled on his peds to face him, "Oh, how can you even say such a thing? She has been deceptive with us from the first moment she arrived. I know you have seen it too! You can feel her holding things back, just feel it in her energy field! We clearly have no idea just how much she is keeping from us."

"She did help Bulkhead." Optimus said it so softly it was surprising the medic noticed.

"Maybe! Unless whatever she gave him backfires later." The old medic let out a hot puff of air through his oral vent, "My synthetic energon seemed like a great idea until we gave it some time!"

"Yes, you make a valid point." Optimus shifted his weight a bit, "But we cannot punish her now for what cannot be proven as an ill act."

"She went behind my back! That alone should prove something!" Ratchet was quick to counter.

* * *

The two prisoners sat very quietly in the back of the small room, each eyeing the guards at the door occasionally. The stasis cuffs had at least been removed, but the door was locked, and two mechs were watching them, so what could they even do? There was little they could consider doing, even if they wanted to. Both of them were weapon free and practically useless. The situation was a rather grim one. Had she only known the amount of trouble it would cause, she would have created a few safeguards before hand. Her plans were more than a little off course at the present but she could recover eventually.

It really was unfortunate the huge mech had to catch her. Everything would have gone perfectly if he had just remained in recharge. There was so much left to do and she did not really have the time nor the patience for all of this. It was beyond frustrating to come so close each time to a victory only to have it snatched away at the last second. She was starting to wonder why she even tried. Perhaps if she began planning everything around the absolute worst outcomes things would begin to go as planned. Plan to fail, thus succeed.

Her helm occasionally dipped low, optics threatening to dim and offline. She was so tired from all of this, not to mention she had yet to rest at all this evening. Of course, it was not as if she had been recharging well lately anyway. Stasis would help her forget this ache too, which would be nice. Skyfreeze wanted so badly to simply curl up on her fellow prisoner's lap and go into a beautiful recharge. Even putting her helm on his shoulder for a few moments would be heavenly! She wanted to so horribly but her pride and understanding of self preservation stopped her. Recharging now would be ill timed no matter how great the desire to do so was. Still, she could not help the momentary lapses of consciousness that slipped past her reason centered mind every so often. If this kept up much longer, the quiet of the room, she was sure to slip away no matter how her mind argued.

"How badly are you hurt?" Starscream whispered into her audios, "Are you in pain?"

His voice brought her back to the surface of being alert, but only slightly, "I am quite well. Nothing vital was damaged, only superficial issues I can ignore." She could ignore pain rather well, it was a practiced skill.

"You would say that no matter how serious your injuries." He huffed at her, clearly annoyed.

"I assure you, I am doing quite well enough." If she was honest, she was much too drained to know how she was. Her systems were fully devoted to healing her, which was another reason she was tired. Her overloaded system had no room to spare for keeping her awake. At present, she hardly felt anything, not even pain. Her body was rather numb, only responding to direct stimulus that caught enough of her circuits attention to alert her processor. Basic funtions only for now.

"Those filthy Autobots!" It was interesting that he could achieve such venom even in a whisper, "They really are too much! Preaching about how much better and noble they are one minute, then coming in for the kill the next."

She smiled rather sleepily, "They were simply protecting their own the same way we always used to protect each other."

"Don't defend them, Angel! They could have killed us both," He growled at the guards under his breath, "Besides, they are nothing like us."

"Of course they are. Everyone fights for what they care about the most. Such feelings are what bind all sentient beings together. We all care about something and someone, even if we show it in different ways." Perhaps it was how tired she was, but she was feeling quite calm about everything.

He was silent a moment before seeming to soften a little, "True, but that is why I don't want to give them another chance at you! They have their loyalties, and we have ours." He paused again, optics traveling to land on her, "The only loyalties I have left are to one, and only one. You and I are it, but I don't really care. I don't need to belong anywhere but with you, the rulers of our own destiny, Angel. The two of us should be free from all of this."

She found her inner alarms beginning to go off, "What are you trying to say?"

"We don't have to stay, Angel. We don't have to be tied to anyone or anything. We could escape and be free from all of it!" Even in the whisper, there was passion in his voice, "Why should we fight so hard for them when we know they would never return the favor? They just use us for their own whims! What reason do we have to stay their slaves when the only ones we really have are each other? We only have a future away from here."

She stared at him, optics full of conflict, processor finding the power once again to listen and consider. Some part of her wanted desperately to accept his words, wanted to follow him to some distant future and freedom from chains. She longed to run away and never look back. Part of her had wondered the same thing, wondered why she struggled so hard only to be beaten down for it later. A piece of her did not see anyone but him giving her a reason to move. What did she have to believe in all of this? Where would it all end? Would they all have to die for the control others wanted to have? Did she really believe in anyone anymore? Did she have the strength to make it through all this the way things were? When had they given her a reason? When had they given her reason to hope and prove her logic wrong? His voice really was all she ever heard in her dark places, no one else. A life by his side, no matter how short, would not be something she would want to fight.

Still, another part of her knew that if everyone gave up, everyone lost. If no one ever stood up against the things that were wrong, everyone would be slaves. If a few never held on, no one had a reason to hope for better than this. If no one was willing to go against all the pain, loss, and impossible odds, only evil would win. It was easy to give in and hide, but hard to stand in a storm. Running was easy and facing fear was difficult. She had come across a human proverb some time ago that said; "Evil thrives when good men do nothing." Could she really live with such a world? Could she really simply let others fight for her when she could stand with them?

Not to mention, she knew her task, and knew it well. Escaping from the path she was being forced to walk held no glimmer of hope. Hiding would only work for so long, no matter how good they were. Walking away was not an option, not if she remembered what the consequences were for a failure on her part. If it was only her life, perhaps she could run, but that was not the case. No matter how deeply she wanted to be allowed to give up, she could not afford to. It was better to do the only thing she could to save a life than give up. The Autobots were her only hope, even if they did not know it yet. Staying with them was as much a choice as she was allowed. Hoping she could give them something to break her chains, anything she could do to edge past her orders, that was all she had to cling to.

Skyfreeze reached out to cup her servo to his faceplate, gently stroking under his optic with one digit before leaning in to press against him, "I wish it were so simple, Starscream, but it is not."

"It could be, for us." Starscream traced delicate circles over her back strut as he looped his arms around her. "We could begin right now, Angel!" He lowered his voice further, moving a talon up her back. "You are not the only one with a bit of medical knowledge."

She tipped her helm up to look at him slightly, "What are you getting at?"

A smile crept onto his faceplate as he looked at her and then glanced at their guards, the two were watching from the door but did not see a threat in the two at this point, "I could get your wings back online and we could make our escape right now. You would just have to put those two in stasis, and we would be free to go unhindered." He locked eyes with her again, "Besides, I already made preparations for just that."

Her circuits began to twist under her metal as her processor began clicking with him in apprehension, "What preparations?" Did she even _wan_t to know?

His grin widened, so full of confidence as he slid a part of his chassis up to gain access to something, "This, for one!" His knee came up to further hide his motion as his claws produced the hidden item he had stashed so carefully.

Her optics widened in recognition, a sharp intake of air passing through her oral vent, "Dear Primus, what did you do?" Her voice may have been a whisper even Starscream could not hear.

There in his hand was the object retrieved from the mission she had gone on. She had seen it in passing on the Medic's table. It was not hard to realize what it was since the pod had been next to it. Optimus and Ratchet had been working with it and inspecting it at the time, so she made no effort to ask about it. Her spark was fluttering behind her chassis madly. What on earth was he doing? Was he mad, absolutely mad? They would be sure to notice that missing soon! If he... or rather they were caught with it... Oh, she hated to think what would happen. The events of the night had been more than she could stand already! She shuddered to even consider what would happen if they did not get this returned in time. Dear Primus, what could she do now? She stared at him in dumb silence, far too stunned to think.

"It was in the Med. bay last night. With all the commotion, I managed to snatch it without them noticing." He slipped it back into its hiding place carefully.

"W-why?" Was all she manage to get out.

He cocked his helm to the side, "Because, this can serve as my T-cog until we get the one from my clone. I heard the Prime talking about what this could do, and my first thought... well, it's obvious. So, when I got the chance, I snatched it." He seemed so calm about it, "You can put those two in stasis and install this as my temporary T-cog. We will get you a vehicle form and be off!"

Skyfreeze was unable to say a word, too shocked and horrified to form words. Well, now she was quite awake. In a single move, he had just ruined all her so carefully laid plans. He was shortsighted, always had been, to the point of being blind to everything but what was directly in front of him - His mind was like no other, but he seemed utterly incapable of looking at the larger picture, only seeing the immediate gratification. She should have anticipated such a move from him, but she had not. No matter what she did now, she could not win. Starscream would never forgive her if she denied him this chance to regain his T-cog, the only freedom he possessed in life. Her blue optics nearly faltered and offlined as her stress levels shot higher. There was no way he could understand it if she refused and turned him in. There was no denying he needed that organ if he was ever going to live very long in this world. Being without it meant a sure death for any Cybertronian on earth, and in this war. She could not deny him this.

She could not turn him over to the Autobots for fear they might simply cast him out of the base, or worse. He had just proven to be a danger to them. The tide had been turning in the base, and the two of them had been going under. Had nothing else happened they might have been able to surface again, but not now. Her intakes were struggling hard to take in enough air to cool her heating systems. Her servos were beginning to tremble as she remained quiet. This was sure to be the last thread breaking both their chances here. Neither of them hand much ground left to stand on and she could not say what this trigger would cause. With this act, they would both fall hopelessly. There was little to no chance of returning in safety. They would either be locked away so deep they would never see the sun again, or be offlined for knowing too much to be safely released.

Still, if she did this, she would ruin everything she had been working for all this time. The Autobots would never trust her again regardless of what she did for them. They would assume this had been her plan and Starscream's all along. She would have no choice but to run, hunted by both sides. Nothing she had set into motion would fade, but she would be unable to complete them. Worse still, he was in danger just by having that item, but it was too late to change. If she did not take him away now, it was hard to say what might happen. Megatron would be the least of their worries if she did not get him to a safe place, and get that away from him. Leaving meant her mission would likely be undone and everything with it. Everything she had done was crumbling around her and there was nothing she could do to stop it. She felt ready to break down herself.

Starscream frowned, sensing, or maybe seeing her frame sag with the weight of this news, "You don't still hold loyalty to them, do you? They tried to offline you! We both know we cannot stay here!" He placed a servo on each of her shoulders, giving her a slight shake, "You know we have to do this!"

Her dull optics raised to see his, her derma moving into a soft smile because she had nothing else to offer. He was right, they could not stay. She could have cried, she really could. He really had no idea what he had done, no idea what that could really be used for, what it's true purpose was. Without knowing it, he had just made his life so much more complicated. One act that seemed to be a good idea had just cast him into a horrible plot she never wanted to see him in. She had no choice, she had to protect him. Before, she thought keeping him with the Autobots was his only chance, but that did not seem to be true anymore. Now, she absolutely had to get him away from everyone. She would fix this, she would get him away from this twisted world and make sure he never came back. Staying here was foolish anyway, more like a crutch she needed for security. As long as she followed orders and directed things to the right places, it did not matter where she was. She would fix this on her own. Maybe this could be for the best. With him safely away, she could begin her tasks with more freedom.

Her helm lolled forward, feeling suddenly as if all her energon had been drained, "Alright. Do it quickly."

For the moment, she would follow his plan, but the moment he was away from this, she would take everything into her own servos. He would hate her, as would everyone else, but she had no choice. She would never allow him to die, not ever. He would not be touched by this no matter what she had to do, on that she swore. She had to get him away and hide his so deep none of them could find him. They needed to hurry, time was not on her side. In fact, the time she had was now cut in half at the least. This was not at all what she planned, not the road she intended to follow, but it was the only one left. It could work, it could still work. She always had a way to make things work.

Skyangel turned a bit so the mechs would not notice what she was doing, moving to practically perch in the seekers lap as she slid her breast plates back. One of his clawed servos slid deep under her back plating and circuits, the other slipping inside the normally protected wires and circuits near her shoulder struts. It was all she could do to keep still as he worked to connect her systems and flip the right switches. When Ratchet did it, it had been far less unpleasant. Perhaps it was the difference between blunt fingers versus sharp ones. Her denta made a crunching sound as she ground the plates together to keep herself from snapping at her friend.

"Sorry," He whispered into her audios, plating a kiss to them, "I know how to do this, that does not mean I'm a medic with training."

She said nothing, afraid if she opened her mouth she might yelp. For all his so called agility, he was like a scraplet when trying to be a medic. Somehow he hit every nerve receptor to pain she had while he was working. It was starting to spark her other injuries out of numbness, making her whole frame ache. Leave it to her to have issues like these. She wished he could at least be numbing her further instead of igniting old wounds. It felt like this was taking many centuries, as if it would never end. She had to focus, focus on the task, remember the plan.

She went limp in his arms as she felt the connections fall into place at long last. A few of her systems reset and came back online, which was both good, and painful. She was shaking slightly, but doing her best to hide it. It would not do well if her friend saw her true condition. She could make it, she had to. Never show weakness or be weak, that was what she always learned. Her body was healing, but she needed more time than she had been given for what she needed. Rest was a luxury though considering the theft would be discovered all too soon.

"Now," She rasped, trying to get her vocalizer to stabilize, "you will have to keep their attention while I charge my wings for the hits. If they hear it, they will know."

He gave her a very true to form grin as he slid her breastplate back into place for her, "Oh, that, I can do!"

* * *

At long last, he was whole again! After all this time, he felt normal. He was nearly flipping in his metal with glee. How she knew exactly how to use that thing on the first try, he had no idea, nor would he complain. She did not even have to open him up for it, the device did all the work. Later, when she put the real thing into him, she would have too, but thank Primus it was not this time. That did not really matter for now though. He could transform again and they were getting out of this place.

Starscream tugged at her hand to get her to move faster as they made their way down the halls. The doctor and the Prime should still be in the Medical room, but that should be fine. They could make it out anyway. All they had to do was activate the bridge and they would be free. Sky could not transform to a vehicle form yet, but they would get her one after they were clear. For now, if the Autobots gave chase, he could carry her in his jet form. It would slow him down, but not enough to worry over.

The Prime's voice hit his audios as they entered the main room. It nearly made him shrink back into the hallway, but he stood his ground. As predicted, they were still in the medical room. Getting to the bridge controls unnoticed would be challenging, but not impossible if they were quick. His servos tightened around hers as he jerked her against his side, holding her tightly partly to assure himself and partly to shield her. She leaned into him heavily, seeming drained to the point it worried him. His arm curled around her waist to pull her closer and hold her up better. She had been so hesitant, and even now he was still practically dragging her, but he supposed it was thanks to her injuries. Later, once they were away, he would take a good look at her, but there was no time for that now.

"We have to make a run for it Angel. Just stay with me, alright?" He glanced down into her optics as she stared up at him, her expression so unreadable, "If they come at us, I need you to use your wings on them to buy us the time we need."

She had yet to drop her wings after putting Bumblebee and Smokescreen into stasis, but he still felt the need to remind her. The silver femme did not seem like she was currently running at the top pf her normal performance. It really did worry him. Perhaps he was asking too much from her after she had been attacked, but what else could he do? They had to leave while they still had the chance. Her helm nodded in understanding but she said nothing as they moved ahead. Carefully, he moved toward the controls from the bridge, glad the Medic and Leader seemed deep in conversation for now.

"Starscream!" The clear voice of the blue femme shattered the silent air around them.

The seeker whirled with a snarl, "Scrap!"

Raising his missile to the Autobot, he let it fly at her, exploding into the wall beside her. He jerked Angel ahead, taking note that she had neither alerted him to the femme, nor used her wings. Perhaps that was because he did not give her time to use her wings, or maybe her reflexes were just slow. Either way, he would clearly have to take the lead in this fight to escape. She was practically wilting even though he still had a hold on her. He could hear the two bots in the other room jumping into motion without looking to see where they were. He made a lunged for the controls, servos locking around it in sheer desperation, pulling the lever without worrying where it was set to take them. Wherever it was going would be fine with him at the moment.

Skyfreeze was visibly swaying at his side like some fliers after their first try at an aerial stunt. It was painfully clear she was not going to make it out unless he took her himself. Her optics kept fritzing in and out as her body threatened to buckle under her own weight. The more he looked at her, the more he knew she was in more trouble than he first thought, but there was no way to turn back now. He scooped her up as blue blasts began falling around them, her frame going limp in his arms. Had he accidentally done damage when he was putting her weapon back online? His long legs propelled him forward into the swirling of green, taking him wherever this lead as fast as they could go. It sounded horribly like the Autobots were going to take chase.

"Angel, come on! You can't give out on me now! You have to wake up!" Starscream was yelling into her audios, but he did not care.

If she did not at least revive enough to hang on when he transformed, he would have no way at all the carry her. He could not hold her and fly at the same time. Seeker nor not, he was not quite that skilled. A passenger that could not fit in his cockpit had to be able to hold on, that was all there was to it! He could not leave her, but if she stayed like this, how could he take her? He broke out of the bridge, sprinting over the rocky ground, her tiny frame danging in his arms as he raced ahead. They were coming, he could hear it.

**AN: I just want to thank all of you for the kind and helpful feedback.! It really makes my day to read them and it helps me immensely! ^^ Thank you!**


	8. Flight for Life

**Flight for Life**

Starscream's legs pumped hard as he ran, his spiked pedes digging hard into the rock and grass, not daring to look back even when the first blasts of blue fire began to ping around him. Skyfreeze's optics were still online but it looked as if she was not really seeing at this point, optics nearly vacant as she stared up at the passing skyline and trees. By the looks of her, she would not be awake much longer. He could feel the sticky warmth of the energon leaking over his serovs where he held her, some smeared over his chassis where he held her against him. He should have realized before what her condition was but he was so focused on escaping... he just did not pay attention. He noticed her leaking energon in the cell before they broke away, but he had no idea it was extensive.

He ducked behind one of the rocky outcrops to avoid a shower of blue that was coming his way, pulling her closer to him instinctively. He had no idea where they were, but at least there was some cover. The trees and rock mountains were a great help in avoiding hits. The rocks were like a maze, but he could deal with that. Even so, it still would not be nearly enough cover. This game of tag would not last forever with him running in inevitable circles. The Prime and Arcee may have been the only pursuers, but that was still two against one. Bumblebee and Smokescreen would come back from stasis all too soon as well. If he could not fly out of here soon, this game would be lost.

"Starscream, Skyangel, surrender now!" The deep authoritative boom nearly was enough to vibrate the ground under the seeker's peds.

_Yeah, how about no way in pit! _He edged farther along the rocky hillside, trying to listen for their location. Anyway, could they really not tell what condition Sky was in by the fact that he was carrying her nearly limp frame?

They needed to get out of here swiftly before he ended up flanked. Skyfreeze did not seem in any condition to hang onto him though. She was weak, likely from loss of energon and he was sure she would not be able to stay with him in his jet form, at least not for very long. If these were any other circumstances, he would have begged the Medic for help, but that was not currently an option. Stopping during a hostile escape for dear life was hardly the time to ask for a favor. It would not be an escape for long at this rate though. If he kept her with him, neither of them would be getting away. Unless he left her-

His helm gave a mighty shake to clear his processor. What had he just considered? His faceplate dropped to snuggled against hers in regret, repulsed by the way his own thoughts worked. _Had that thought really just passed through him? _His denta kneaded his lower derma slowly. Yes, sadly, it had. His arms clamped down around her frame to hold her closer as he speed ahead again from his hiding place. Why such a disgusting thought even entered his mind, he had no idea. Leaving her behind to save his own aft was out of the question. Anyone else, sure, he would have left them here, but not Angel. He knew for a fact she would never leave him if the tables were turned, so he would never leave her either. No, no, he would not think something like that ever again. Old habits died hard, he guessed.

Tossing her frame high into the air, his thrusters gave a mighty blast as he transformed into his F-15 alt mode, swooping under her as he flew forward. As he ascended he could already feel her shifting and slipping, not seeming to be even making an attempt to hang on - He had an ill feeling she was not conscious any longer. Carefully, he rocked his wings back and forth in an attempt to maneuver her into a position she could sustain, arching higher so that when she inevitably fell, he would have room to catch her before she hit the ground. He needed altitude, badly; both to avoid her hitting the ground as well as to avoid being in range of Autobot fire. He was flying at a far slower speed than normal to keep her from being caught by the drag of the wind. As he climbed higher, he could feel her slipping lower still, metal shrieking as it slid over his. He tired to level out but before he could shift her back, several blue blasts sailed his way.

Before he even thought, acting on instinct, he made a hard shift to the left, avoiding the hit. Starscream yelped as he felt her suddenly sliding off, helm scraping his wing and wing flaps as she slipped away from him. Panicking, he dove after her, the wind wheezing around him in his sheer drop. Rushing under her, he pulled his nose up, letting her crash against his cockpit as he began to climb with her once again - Already, she was beginning to skid down toward his tail, but he had to keep climbing, had to get over the mountain at his front. The seeker blasted his jets to maximum thrust as he climbed higher, pulled down by her weight. If he could just get her to this mountain top, it would gain him some time. It would be high enough to be out of range unless they climbed it to get to them. They were fast, even in climbing, but it might still buy him enough time to get Angel back online. There was no way he could hold her this way, not for any distance.

Skyfreeze slid all the way to his tail, folding over it; legs and helm dangling dangerously on either side of his vertical stabilizer as her waist was pressed hard into the sharp of his rudder. If she slid off that way she was sure to take out both his receiver antenna. He growled, the rumble vibrating the glass of his cockpit. The heat from his thrusters would burn her if she stayed there long. He heaved a vent of air in relief as he soared over the top, transforming to catch the femme smoothly in his arms as he landed on the rocky face.

"Angel, online your optics and look at me!" Starscream ordered forcefully in an attempt to gain her attention.

She was hot to the touch where she had come into contact with his thrusters but the wind from this height would cool her quickly. She did not give a response, so he tried again several more times as he scanned the ground below in search for the two Autobots he knew were following. Already, he spotted the femme at the base of the mountain, transformed into her alt mode, racing up the side. He lifted his arm, missile locking into place as he fired it some distance ahead of her. Even his missile would never reach her at this distance, but he was not aiming for her directly. There was a blast of smoke, fire, dust, and heat as the explosion drilled into the mountain side. As predicted, rock began to rain down on the blue motorcycle, driving her into a swift retreat to avoid being crushed.

That bought him a few minutes. He glared down at the still falling rocks below, knowing he needed something much better than that if he planned to escape this place. They needed to get back to the Harbinger. There, he would have the needed tools to finally tend and treat Skyfreeze. How close they were to the ship was hard to say without knowing where they were. He could scan to find out, but now was not the time. Even if they were close, he had no intention of leading them to his doorstep. The mountain would not be a defensible position for long, so he had to decide swiftly what move to make next. His spark was starting to thrum faster as his mind worked, going over so many routs, but seeing how poorly they could go.

His optics widened when he saw the Prime move in with the femme, both coming at the same time now, moving over the huge fallen rocks with surprising agility. Now he really needed to move! His vents started working harder to cool his heating system despite the cool air whirling around him. His ruby orbs began traveling the area swiftly, desperately searching for anywhere to hide or anything he could use against them.

Nervous optics paused on what looked to be a cave a ways down the mountain, or at least, it could have been a cave. Chancing it was better than standing here to wait for the Autobots. A cave could be a risky move, being blocked in with no way out, or it could be his only chance. If it went deep enough it might block him from their sensors. At the very least, it might provide a bit of cover and buy just that much more time.

Holding the silver femme close, he began to slide down the rocky terrain, bounding off rocks, despite the complaints it drew from his knee joints and pedes. It was faster this way, faster than walking, which he did not have time for. He vaulted himself over a few large rocks, using them to gain him speed in a drop before he gave his thrusters a momentary burst to ease him into a soft landing. The seeker raced for the opening, hoping to Primus it really was a cave as he neared it. Skyfreeze stirred ever so slightly in his arms, clearly having been jolted and jostled into a semblance of consciousness. He made a quick click with his glossa to signal her to be quiet.

As he reached its opening he was relieved to see it was indeed a cave, and though he tended to have little luck with caves, there were no other options. He ducked inside swiftly, nearly tripping over himself in his rush to get out of sight. The seeker moved as swiftly as the darkness would allow, the light of their optics giving off some light, but not enough to see well. He did not dare turn on any of his alt mode lights, not yet.

Skyfreeze was beginning to squirm in his hold, whimpering slightly, clearly confused, processor not quite fully restarted. The seeker tightened his hold on her tiny, trembling frame, lowering his helm to whisper soothing words into her audio receptor. He had no idea if it was fear causing this reaction or pain, but he needed to keep her calm before she drew attention. With some difficulty, he carried her deeper, trying not to trip. Finally, he knelt on the ground, cradling her against him in a more secure position. Gently, he began to stroke her faceplate, feeling the chill setting into her. He tried not to worry but he could not help the way the sensation made his spark twist in his chest. Being this cold meant that her systems were shutting down.

"Don't worry, Angel, I've got you... and I won't let you go ever again..." She stilled as he rested his faceplate to hers softly.

* * *

The blue and red mech stood tall and straight against the light of the sun, sharp optics scanning over the terrain from his place atop the mountain. Arcee stood at his side, a servo on her hip, posed in frustration as she searched as well. They both knew there was no way the seeker could have flown out of their line of sight this quickly, yet he and the other femme had vanished. After they had gotten over the rocks to this point, there had been no sign of life other than their own. The skies were clear and void of cover clouds, stretching out peacefully as far as sight allowed. Unless he was flying dangerously low, he was not in the skies at all. The question remained, where had the two gone?

Both the leader and his subordinate knew fully well they could not allow the prisoners to escape. They knew far too much and likely knew, or could guess at the base location. Even if the exact placement was not known, the information they did have would lead them to it by process of elimination. There were only so many places like those that the government possessed large enough for creatures of their size.

The thing neither of them wanted to consider was the possibility that the two were already aboard the Nemesis, bridge away by Soundwave. They did not want to consider that the events up until now had been planned by their enemies. Even if it was not their plan, the two escaped prisoners might have been plotting such an outcome from the first. There was simply no way to know.

It was really all the femme could do to hold in a snarl of anger, furious that those despicable 'Con's had slipped past them. The pit spawn of a seeker had to be behind this, she was sure! She never did like having him around. Had she thought it would do her any good, she would have been more vocal about it. Letting him roam instead of being locked up every way possible would have been best. Locking the two of them up so deep that they forgot what earth's sun looked like would have been ideal, if you asked her. Neither of them deserved to roam freely. There was a point at which she almost liked the other femme, but that had changed rather quickly once she discovered a bit more about her. She was a 'Con no matter what she said.

Optimus raised a servo to the side of his helm, "Ratchet, we have lost sight of Starscream and Skyangel. Can you pinpoint their signal locations from the base?"

Arcee looked up, unsure what the medic had said in response, but trying to listen anyway.

"Affirmative." The Prime stated shortly, then paused as if listening, "I am uncertain."

Well, this side of the conversation was informative, she thought in a rather dry form of humor. He was talking directly to the medic, not on the general channel they all used. She could switch over, but by the time she did so, she was sure the conversation would be finished. She watched his faceplate closely, waiting for a sign or indication from him of what to do next. His cerulean optics traveled slowly down the side of the mountain, flitting around an area until he finally fixed on a spot. Her optics followed to a darkened area far below them. Was that it, where they were hiding?

"I will report back with our finding shortly, Ratchet."

Without a further word from him, he transformed and began driving toward the cave. It really was the only option outside of a transport. There may have been quite a bit of cover in the area, but nothing the two prisoners could have gotten too fast enough. Even the larger rocks on the mountain could not hide them well enough. The femme followed swiftly, staying close as they descended. She watched carefully as they moved, wheels rolling slowly as they neared the entrance. Optimus and Arcee transformed in tandem, weapons at the ready as they came the rest of the way on pedes. Wordlessly, Optimus drew her attention to a few drops of energon on the ground in front of the cave. That meant one of them had been hit during the escape, unless that had been placed there as a trick. No way to know that at this point.

She made her way up, swiftly circling over the top of the opening to come in on the opposite side as Optimus, covering both ways they might be fired on. Leaving one side open was never the best of plans, most of all if this was a trap. The two moved in, back struts nearly sliding over the rocks as they edged to the darkened hole. The Prime gave a nod to indicate they were going in. They spun together, blasters held high as they lunged inside.

The darkness was all that met them as they plunged ahead. Arcee narrowed her optics, trying to adjust to the change in light from outside. The blasters provided quite a bit of light, but also ensure they would be targeted easily. No matter what they did, they were walking targets with enemies that could be lurking in any of the uneven areas of the rocky opening. It was no energon mine, the sides far too jagged and uneven for it to be. Optimus had to keep his helm low, knee joints bent at a likely uncomfortable angle in order to move without scraping the crest of his helm against the top of the cave. She was moving just a bit ahead of him so that his broad shoulders could fit in the small area. At last, since their blasters already made them glowing targets, Optimus turned on his front headlights to give them a better chance of washing the darkness away and making a broader illusion of a target.

Even so, there was still nothing to be seen. There were indeed tracks over the dirt and rocky floor to indicate they had been here, but nothing beyond that. With the light flooding the cave, they could see a very clear end. As the cave opened up to allow them more space, Optimus moved slowly on her left, every step deliberate as he examined the area. The cave was not deep by any means, even a human could reach the end in a few minutes. Her optic ridges turned down as her optics swept the area, moving slowly as she went. They had been in here, but where could they have gone? Small rocks crunched lightly under her pedes as she walked. There was clearly no exit, just the end of the cave. How could they have vanished outside of being bridged away? Perhaps that was what they did do. Her spark sank considerably as she walked the end, reaching out just in case, to touch the smooth end of the walls. No secret opening or false back.

Could they have come in, then circled out again? That would be something that slimy, sneaky little 'Con would do. Perhaps the two expected them to come into the cave and... Arcee's optics shot wide open as the thought occurred to her, spinning instantly back toward the entrance, blasters charged at full strength. Maybe this was a trap, set up to give herself and the Prime no place to run from the blasts. It would make sense from those two, a plotting pair if she ever saw one. Maybe that was the seeker's plan from the start.

"Arcee!" Optimus called her name with a sense of urgency, as if in warning.

* * *

It was fortunate he had chosen to come in here, the last of his ex- commander luck, maybe. While the cave was not deep enough to hide their signatures from those that knew where to look, it had other advantages. The cave had quite likely resulted from an earthquake many years ago. The back of the cave was wide and high, opened like the belly of a beast. There were rugged, jutting areas on the left hand side that could have been used to hide in, but not like this. Likely, there had been some manner of fault line that lead to the surface, covered up over time on the right. It was sheer on both sides, a sort of jackknife formation into the walls that rendered it nearly invisible unless you were looking from the very back of the cave. The farther up the fault space went, the narrower it became, but at its base, it was fairly wide, at least enough that two Cybertronians could hide within the crack, given enough room to move. I was like a strange, pointed room hidden away at the back of this place. It did not go back far, but far enough.

Starscream had been hopeful that the Autobots would not even come all the way to the back, missing this area entirely from a glance. From farther to the front, and even when you were nearly on top of the space, you did not notice it in the darkness. It was easily mistaken for a simple void of space to anyone not utterly desperate for a hiding spot. He hoped they would not venture far enough back to see this, but he was never that fortunate. Hearing them come was torture, but he stayed still, positioned in front of Skyfreeze. She was on her feet now, but not exactly steady. The femme was together enough to grasp the situation, but not in any condition to fight or flee.

When he saw the two Autobots coming to the end, he shuttered his optics in an attempt to remove the excess light they gave without totally blinding himself. His wings quivered slightly with nervousness as they lingered, time seeming to drag on interminably. The Prime observed his side first, taking note of every single rock, it seemed like. Oh, but he turned, he just had to turn a bit more. Autobots always did go above and beyond the necessary. Those bright lights of his instantly catching the gleam of silver metal reflecting back. His large silver faceplate lite with surprise, optics widening as his body turned more fully to face the danger. Even before he spoke, the femme was already moving, apparently sensing the danger without knowing the location.

Before Starscream could do more than bring out his red and black blasters, Angel was already stepping out from behind him, bar wings snapping with charge. He wanted to call her back, tell her to stay behind him, but she was already too far to catch hold of. His intakes hitched instantly, for once, more afraid for someone other than himself.

* * *

Optimus's spark jolted in his chamber as he saw the unmistakable flash of metal, the two frames gleaming a stark contrast against the dull rock in his headlights - Red optics snapping open when it was clear they had been seen, a dull set of blue optics locking with his from behind the seeker. He was hardly even aware of warning Arcee, looking out for his team so much a part of him it was more of a reflex than a thought. His blasters jerked up, but Arcee was directly in his line of fire, moving to aim at the entrance rather than the escaped prisoners. Time was not quite moving at a normal speed, the way it always seemed to in a fight. To him, it inevitably felt one of two ways; as if everything was moving in a slowed motion, or as if time was racing past him faster than he dared hope to catch hold of.

Skyangel was already moving, stepping out from behind Starscream with a determined and focused agility so few attained in the stress of battle. The Prime had a tendency to take in every detail of situations, observing everything around him even if he did not have time to dwell on anything he noticed that was not directly of importance. His processor moderately registered the way the seeker had been standing so protectively in front of her - A nearly unthinkable show from one so generally intent on allowing any and everyone but himself to be in harms way.

Optimus moved again to fire without risking a hit to one of his own, his blast flying just past Starscream's helm - He had over corrected slightly. Arcee whirled again, swift motion so fluid it was hard to follow, her blasters each letting a burst fly toward the approaching silver femme. Even Arcee's swift motion was not fast enough to avoid the other femme's white shot. One of the stunning blasts caught Arcee directly in the chest, while the other nearly caught the Prime in the side. Arcee's swiftly moving frame came to an instant, unnatural stop as induced stasis shut down and locked her body in place. His processor took note that the femme had only used two of her six bars, as if conserving energy, or unable to use more than that. Any more and he would have been hit as well, only saved by Arcee's location. Skyangel also took one of Arcee's blasts, he noticed, the scorched mark, energon, and smoke at her right shoulder strut enough to indicate that.

From here, standing in the open would be ill advised, those wings still blue with un-expelled charge. He could simply shower the escaped prisoners with his cannons, potentially dealing fatal damage in seconds, but the return fire was bound to hit the frozen member first. Grabbing his immobile and vulnerable comrade, he vaulted over the larger rocks to crouch awkwardly against the opposite wall, the blue femme carefully placed behind his larger frame. No matter the situation, he always moved to protect the others, consciously or otherwise. The safety of his team always had to come first, that was always his first priority. Victory was hallow if no one remained to share in it. Without his team, Autobot or human, there was really nothing left to fight for, if he allowed himself to admit such a thing. So much had been lost over time that there was precious little to keep even his hope alive. A point he seemed to share with the silver femme to some extent.

A red shot slammed into the wall above his helm, causing him to duck reflexively. Skyangel made no move to flee, still standing in the open position, not bothering to seek cover. Starscream let several more blast fly, all missing the mech, but seeming more intent on gaining the femme's attention - He even went so far as to edge away from the arching rocks of protection, moving as if to catch hold of her. Optimus leveled his cannon at her, knowing she was the most logical target to eliminate first - His cannon twitching with hesitation as he saw the femme teeter on her pedes before crashing to her knees. A strangled gagging sound shook her frame as energon spurted from her mouth, oozing between her fingers as she put a servo up in a vain attempt to stop it.

"Angel!" The seeker yelped as he rushed forward, seeming to forget his usual need for self preservation.

The expression on the seeker's faceplate was desperate and full of fear as one servo shifted back to its normal form, pulling her to him as he knelt at her side, still keeping one blaster aimed at the Prime. Tactically, now would be the time to strike; cripple the already downed femme while taking the opportunity to down the seeker while his guard was faltering. The tiny, seemingly shrinking frame quivered in the mech's hold, the charge in her wings going dim as he tugged her carefully towards what precious little shelter there was. The show could be a guise to throw him off, a ploy to catch hold of his sympathy, but he highly doubted it. Skyangel was not fabricating the energon dripping from her derma, nor was the seeker bold enough to expose himself to attack without genuine reason.

"Starscream, surrender." Optimus spoke in a clear, even voice, his spark not quite able to fall to the cold logic he knew he should follow,"There is no reason for this to continue."

The seeker's red optics jolted up to lock onto the larger model with shining malice, "Surrender? Why, so you can finish the termination your brainless friend began on Angel? So you can execute us both peacefully?" His vocalizer had turned to a deep throated snarl of barely veiled rage as he tucked her beneath his wing protectively, "I will never let you terminate her, Prime, never! That is my reason!"

Optimus' gaze did not falter in the slightest, the stand off between their blasters not able to shake his ever calm exterior, "I give you my assurance that no further harm will come to either of you."

Starscream growled, optics narrowing, "Your assurance? What good is that? It is your so called subordinates we have to worry about!"

It was time to shift his focus, this method was just spinning their wheels, "Starscream, she is clearly in need of medical attention. You cannot care for her properly alone."

He scoffed, but wavered slightly when she shivered against him in obvious pain, "You Autobots did this to her, now you expect me to believe you will repair it too?" A steely chill edged into his red orbs, "At least I know for a fact that I will not 'accidentally' take her offline in the process of 'repairing' her damage! At least I know I will take real care of her!"

"Be reasonable, Starscream. Ratchet is far better prepared to repair Skyangel than you are." Optimus spoke each word in as soothing and even a voice as he could in an attempt to calm the other. "It is in both your best interest to return to base willingly."

"**Reasonable**? How is turning her over to that scrapped up medic that threatened to _torture_ her for having the audacity to_ help_ one of your own reasonable?" The rage in the seeker's voice had turned from a growl to a higher tone of mockery.

Optimus narrowed his optics, taking in with no great pleasure the simple fact that talking the ex-commander down was not going well, "Do you really want to take her away only to watch her offline slowly before you... because you refused to put your anger behind you?"

Strascream's faceplate twisted into a pained, sick expression, the words sinking in. It looked as if the Prime had finally gotten through to him. If he did indeed care for the femme as much as the evidence indicated, he would concede. For all his flaws and traitorous ways, it seemed the seeker's spark was not utterly lost. In all the years battling the second in command, he had never seen him use his own frame to shelter another willingly. The past the two shared was unknown to the Autobot leader, but he could imagine it must have been similar to what he shared with Elita-1. He considered offhandedly the potential that this femme would be the key to soften the ex-commander's spark enough to assist the Autobots with his knowledge of the Nemisis. Somewhere in his spark, he did not believe she was as terrible as she seemed. He felt something in her that made him feel oddly at ease, as if he were back on Cybertron, though Primus knew why.

The only sound he heard was something like static before his world suddenly fell into a spin, processor strangely sluggish. He tried to move to steady himself, but found the act suddenly impossible, his systems feeling somehow disconnected. Even in this state of fog, his processor snapped the answer to him with moderately normal efficiency - Skyangel never fully powered down her wings.

His slowly dimming optics watched as the femme doubled over, more energon coming from her oral cavity as the seeker stared at her a moment, too stunned to react. He recovered quickly, burning opticts turning on the Prime, red blaster flaring to fire the killing blow while he had the chance. It was almost readable over his faceplate, the understanding that such a chance might never fall at his feet again. A trembling servo reached up and clapped hard onto his wing, the action making him pause, though never dropping the weapon from it's target.

"Don't, Star. Leave them." A weak but firm voice broke the stillness as she leaned heavily on the seeker to stand.

"Angel, now is our chance!" He persisted, but shifted as if by reflex to support her.

"Please... let's go?" Skyangel nearly collapsed into him, her pedes all but useless at keeping her upright any longer, the last of her strength clearly spent.

Starscream did not answer her in words, simply shifting away the blaster and scooping her up into his arms. He cast a final angry glance toward the Autobot leader, clearly displeased by the idea of walking away from such a chance, but too worried not to - He might loath the tought of leaving them alive, but kne well enough that Skyangel's health was slipping to fast to argue with her over it. The Prime hardly saw them as they slipped right past him, his blue optics online but only so far as reading information, no longer able to transmit directly to his processor accurately. He was not offline, but might as well have been so far as being able to move or reason. It felt a bit like being under the water, the pressure and weight of the depths against his frame, unable to move in anything but a sluggish crawl. It could have been compared to how he felt while nearly frozen solid in the snow some time ago. Interestingly enough, that time had been with Arcee as well. Perhaps he would remember this later on a cleared processor, or perhaps not.

* * *

It felt like his vents had not been working properly in days, time ticking by with agonizing slowness. Every moment she did not awaken was another moment he had to think of all those days his spark had withered without her, believing her to be dead. Starscream could never forget how it felt, how much it hurt to come out of recharge to a world with nothing to live for. As silently as possible, he moved in to sit on the berth at her side, one servo gently running over her faceplate. The pain of those times had been nearly too much for him to endure. So many times he had considered just allowing himself to rust away. He really did want to join her, go to the Allspark to see her once again. Turning his body slowly, he eased himself down to cuddle beside her, arm draped protectively around her upper frame. It made him feel as if he could hold her here like this so she would never slip away again.

He felt rather wretched for not seeing how badly she was hurt before he decided to make an escape, but what else could he have done? They were not going to take time to repair her, they made that clear by not even giving her condition a single look before shoving her off to a holding room. They would have let her die or offlined her no matter what he had done. That was the way war worked. She seemed to have forgotten that.

Skyfreeze had quite a bit of internal damage, very like he had seen in Vehicons that had been hit with the bruits hammer. Multiple lines were damaged or disconnected, causing extensive energon loss. He managed to patch most of the damage enough for her own systems to take over the repair. He was far from a medic, but his menial knowledge was enough to fix a majority of the problems. Doing repairs on himself was impossible, but doing repairs on others was much simpler. The ship did have the tools he needed as well. Granted, she would not be fully functional for some time, but he was sure he had repaired most of the trouble areas. He had given her quite a bit of energon to replenish with. Thank Primus he had some hidden on the ship or he would have had to leave her to find some. He would have to go out in search of more for them both, but not quite yet.

He had done everything he could to repair her, so why... why had she not come back online in all this time? Starscream pressed the side of his faceplate into the crook of her neck. She was so still. Multiple times he checked her spark chamber just to be sure it was still beating, just to assure himself. It was strange how helpless this situation made him feel, how her vulnerability made him feel exposed somehow. He depended on her so, as she did with him. His world had already crashed down around him once, the last time she left, and it hurt to think it could happen again. The only thing that actually got him through that first time was Megatron, as beyond belief as it was. The galdiator taught him to turn his pain into hate. He taught him how to twist every second of agony into joy by turning your pain into someone else's. The seeker learned that if he had to suffer, the way to forget was to make everyone he could get a hold of suffer more. Causing others to suffer oddly provided him with a numbness, a dead feeling, but something preferable to agony. For every moment you hurt, make the ones that caused it hurt ten fold more. It really did ease his spark somehow. Misery loves company. Revenge was like a drug, a drive that swallowed everything else until it was all that occupied your thoughts. There was so much he had to get revenge for, and indeed he did get it.

Gaining power became an addiction as well, the more he had, the more he wanted. It was the singular thing he had in life, so it was all he could focus on. When he became the leader of the seeker group, things took a turn for the better for a while. For a time, his Trine eased the pain and gave him a purpose. His brothers became the shot of medical energon he needed to heal the seething wounds. During those days, they managed to make him smile and even forget to a large degree. Thundercracker and Skywarp gave him a reason to get up, once again, filling the void of his losses. To some degree, they made the feeling of numb deadness ease. However, he lost them as well, just like Angel. It took him a long time to really function again when they were snatched away too.

After that... he simply gave up. Why bother to care or become close with anything if it will always end in pain? Why feel anything at all for others when it only meant the utter anguish their loss would bring later? No, he had decided never to care again, ever. He decided to allow the deadness to consume him so he would never have to feel again. He channeled all his emotions into the purest of hatred for everyone and everything because hate was safer than love. Anger and hate were easy and very consuming with the familiarity of his own darkness. In the end, he would always end up alone, so why not simply gear himself for it? He looked out for himself, and no one else, because he knew that he could at least count on himself.

Even so, Angel had always haunted his dreams like a beautiful illusion he could never catch hold of - His first love, and also his last. Sometimes he dreamed that all three of them were with him again in a different time. Only in the hours of the night did he remember the feelings of happiness, but those memories only made awakening all the more bitter. Though he mourned them all, she was the one he dreamed of most, in some form or another. Sometimes they were good dreams, but others he awakened to in terror, just glad he was awake. There had been times he wished he had never even met her so he could have avoided all the suffering the loss of her brought. Loss was a bitter thing and part of him wished to Primus he had never known what it was like to love at all. Having such a thing snatched away was far worse than any torture created. Another part of him though, was glad he had the chance to know happiness just once.

When he first came to work at the laboratory everyone told him how they pitied him for being stationed as her partner. They told him that everyone else always refused the position. It seemed everyone was not only uncomfortable around the well known scientist, and unofficial head of the department, but secretly feared her as well. There were many odd rumors he had been told before meeting his soon to be partner, such as the most popular one about her being the only Cybertronian born without a spark, running only by her processor. She intimidated others with her unreadable, silent, impenetrable, steadfastness. Her mind rivaled the best of them, and such a cold creature like her made it seem terrifying. Those stories did more to intrigue him and draw out his incurable curiosity than they did to frighten him.

Once he met her, he understood why they felt about her the way they did. Being around her was like being in a room with Soundwave for extended amounts of time. Even her electromagnetic field pulsed waves so cold and indifferent it chilled the metal. Her faceplate almost never changed, optics always sharp, yet void, drilling clear to the spark. If she spoke, it was generally short, formal, or covertly unkind in nature. The only time any warmth came into her field was when something she was working on developed as she expected. The first time he saw her with the remotest form of a smile was when her tests were a better success, theory turning out better than expected. It was then that he knew there was more to her then met the optics. She _had_ emotions, and her reserve about showing them only made him want to get at them all the more.

He gained joy from every time he got that pretty faceplate to react, satisfaction from every pulse of anger her teased free, and glee from every time he managed to embarrass or humiliate her. It was an interesting game he loved to play, constantly thinking of newer and more creative ways to get at her. Granted, he found a new understanding for why she was feared after he got a_ real_ reaction out of her. Skyfreeze had an uncanny way of finding someones weakness, which she was a bit too skilled with doing. Being locked in that cramped, ever shrinking, room to panic all night proved that to him with full clarity. He was reminded to tread more carefully lest he earn another form of wrath from her. However, that little event meant the game had turned into war, and one he fully intended to win! It made him far more determined in his endeavor than ever before.

Getting the little femme drunk had been his idea, one in which he enlisted the rest of the departments help with. He had good relations with the rest of his co-workers, so it was not hard to convince them. Considering everyone was more than a little curious to see if Sky was even capable of being out of control for even a second, it was not a hard sell. Even now, he still remembered the faceplates of his co-workers the first time Skyfreeze giggled, not even laughed, but giggled. It had shocked him as well, but in a slightly different way. He still remembered the musical sound of that expression of joy and the way it made him smile - Hearing that, he simply could not help but feel a sense of infectious joy right along with her. The sound was far warmer than anything he had felt from her before. It reminded him that she was capable of being happy, and sad that he had never seen it before. It made him truly want to see her happy more often.

After that night, when she drilled him with cold optics, it made him want to find ways to warm them. After that night, when she spoke harshly or told him she hated him, he knew she was lying. Her softer, warmer side had shown though already. She was a delicate creature hiding behind walls made of cold, unfeeling fronts to protect herself. She was so afraid of letting anyone in that she stifled herself. The reality was that she did feel, she felt very deeply, but she deprived herself of the right to show it. Someone had to get her out, so why not him? It took him forever, tiny step after tiny step, but he gained on her. He could not rush her or she would run, so he had to move slowly, agonizingly so.

In the evenings when everyone else had returned to their dwellings, the two of them stayed behind. When they were alone, working after hours, she would drop her guard just enough for him to see her. The two would work in their station, building dark and silent, save their little room and computer screens. It was in those times she would finally let him just a little closer, speak with just a little more warmth, and smiles just a little. Those moments, her emotions, belonged to him, and no one else.

He could never forget the times she allowed him near, letting him hold her servo or wrap his arms around her waist as he watched her work. It always made his spark flutter when she returned his affection, resting her helm against his shoulder, or simply touching his arm softly as she walked by. Those moments when they were alone were the sweetest. There were other times he remembered equally, never failing to smile a little at the thought. He would never forget the shrill squeak she made when he caught her walking by and pulled her into his lap in front of everyone at the lab. She had never looked so flustered and humiliated in her entire time in the lab as she did then, thrashing and shoving at him, demanding with every threat in her vocabulary that he release her. Much to her horror, that moment was never forgotten by any that saw it, and others that had only heard. Starscream was nearly a hero in the ranks for that one act alone. It took him weeks to get her to let him within any reasonable range, walking out of her way to ensure he could not catch her again. He always waited until her guard was down again before pulling another stunt, reveling in her embarrassed expressions. He always made up for them later, when they were alone... after she stopped threatening him, of course. Those memories were bitter-sweet now, but etched into his spark.

Slowly, Starscream pulled himself away from her, easing off the berth. He allowed himself a few moments to look at her before he turned, making his way out of the ships old medical room, doors slow to respond to the press of the button. The ship was old and flawed, but functional enough to work. His spark felt heavy as he made his way down the hall toward one of the damaged openings. Leaving her frightened him, but he had no choice. In the event she lost more energon, he would have nothing to give her. Furthermore, he would be useless to her if he ran out himself. It had been a few days since he refueled adequately. He had taken the last of it before lying with her and working up the courage to leave her alone. He had hoped she would awaken long enough for him to tell her where he had gone, but it did not seem that would be happening any time soon.

His vents hummed with a fast escape of hot air as he moved out into the sunlight, his metal wings nearly acting as a reflector to magnify the glare. After being in all that darkness he had to squint just to see. The seeker hopped up, transforming gracefully to jet into the air before he changed his mind about leaving her. Thus far, this temporary T-cog was functioning perfectly, but he still did not fully trust it. Using this was another reason he was hesitant to leave, unsure how long this item would really last him. Leaving was the only choice though. Some things had to be done, and this was one of them. He could only pray Primus had pity on Angel and kept her alive long enough for him to get back to her.

**AN: Thank you all for your advice and kind worlds! I seriously love reading what everyone has to say! It always makes my day. ^^ Though, sorry if this seemed jumpy, I was trying to get multiple perspectives. Optimus' perspective is the hardest for me to get right.  
Oh, and for those of you that have been saying all along how her secrets are making things worse and will come back to bite her later, you are quite right. XD Have no fear, things get much worse for her, muuuch! Those of you with this prediction will enjoy the future chapters.  
**


End file.
